Last Name
by bowtiewearingowl
Summary: Going to Vegas was supposed to be a blast! And it was, until Duo's final night... when he got a little too drunk and woke up with a really expensive wedding ring and a husband whose last name he didn't even know. 1x2 Rating may go up later on...
1. I Don't Even Know My Last Name

**Chapter One**

I Don't Even Know _My_ Last Name

* * *

I could kill myself. I could honestly kill myself!

As I got off the bus just at the corner of the grocery store I could practically feel everyone staring at me like they knew. I was still in my clubbing attire but the coat that I'd… 'unconsciously' stolen from _him_ was long enough to cover most of it. Probably to the prying eye I looked like I was wearing Capri's or something.

I didn't have my car since I had taken the bus to Salt Lake City and then two more to Vegas, so I started hiking the short distance to my home dragging my travel bag likeit weighed 100 pounds. Thank God for small towns. Most of the walk wasn't uncomfortable; it would have been a very nice autumn day… except I could still feel the cold band around my finger even though it was now safely tucked away in my pocket.

I'd almost made it to my house when Mrs. Wise came out onto the front steps. Usually I love talking with her because she has the most amazing Austrian accent and she's so personable, but not today. I just didn't want to try and explain why I was walking so early in the morning when- "Morning Duo!" She called.

I stopped and fixed as close to a smile as I could on my face, "Morning miss Elizabeth." That was her nickname to everyone in the Parish. We all knew her as 'miss Elizabeth' and she seemed to know all our names.

"Where in the world are you coming from? I know I saw you leave Sunday and I knew you were going away for the week but you weren't at church this morning, Father Taylor missed you." And Thank you God for having me miss his homily. "Is everything alright?" The sad thing was she isn't a gossip and she meant that in all sincerity, I hated lying to her.

"I went to visit Hilde and we got into a fight on Friday and she kicked me out of her apartment so I hung around until I could finally get her to listen to me and it took a while and by the time she'd come around I'd already missed my bus and had to take another one." I hate myself, I hate myself, I hate myself.

Miss Elizabeth gasped and hugged me tightly; "Everyone was so worried when they didn't have you singing this morning at mass. I'll be sure to call Father Maxwell and tell him you're alright." I thanked her and quickstepped two doors down to my house and sprinted through the front door.

Never had the warm smell of my own house been more amazing! I threw off the calf-length coat, dropped my bag by the door, and sighed, falling onto my couch and hugging my pillows because even _they_ smelled warm. I wondered where in the world my cat was, usually when I came in the door Shini was on me, yowling for milk. That only meant one thing…

"Duo Maxwell!" Solo came out of the kitchen, hugging my pitch-black cat to her chest, and looking the picture of anger. "Where the Hell have you been?" Shini leapt from her arms and straight to mine.

I hugged Shini's furry body close and finally decided to face the music, "You know where I've been. I've been in Vegas of course."

That answer seemed to make her mad and she puffed out like a puffer fish. "You're late!"

When I looked up at her I was sure she wanted to go back into the kitchen and grab one of those large knives that are used to kill people in almost every horror movie I've ever seen. "Let me explain! Please!" I begged and she sat down. "Can I get dressed first though?" She narrowed her eyes but nodded.

I scampered up the stairs to my room where I threw myself on my bed and planned to stay there for a little bit, but Solo had to call up, "Ten minutes!" Despot.

Slowly I pulled myself off of my bed and looked in the mirror and groaned. I took off my short, and I mean short black shorts and netted red top and the multiple silver bangles on my wrists and painfully tugged off the thigh high black boots. They took five minutes in it of themselves because of all those laces.

My hair was a mass of brown all over my head, I looked like I'd been ravaged all ni- never mind. I tamed it somehow and pulled it into my signature braid down my back. People always say I look like a woman, a masculine woman, but one all the same. Maybe that's why the women at the church really like me to come to bake sales; I sell a lot of pies when I flash my pearly whites and flip my hair. It's sort of strange.

I finally came back down the stairs in a white shirt and blue jeans and the ring tucked in my pocket. No matter what I couldn't throw it away.

Solo was sitting on the seat across from my favorite chair with Shini on her lap. For such a small girl she was very imposing in her Sunday shirt and nice jeans and my cat looking like her name Shinigami, God of Death, suggested. Her very bright eyes followed me as I moved to the chair but I swear she didn't move her head, it was like a board had been jammed up against her back.

"So… I knew you had the week off and were planning on going to Vegas. I even encouraged it." I nodded as Solo started to speak. "I texted you around midnight three times on Friday to remind you just incase you decided to get plastered the night before you had to leave. You didn't reply. I didn't get any reply at all

"So I, the queen of worrying, started to panic. I called Quatre to watch the shop and tell people that the Doctor is not in and if they need their dog's leg amputated they need to go to Dawn across town because the Doctor is sick. I kept waiting for you to appear on Saturday, hoping that maybe your phone had been stolen but you didn't appear at your allotted time. I went to the bus station at least thirty times last night, still no sign. Then you weren't at church!"

She'd stayed very calm for the whole part until this point where she got to her feet, causing Shini to go flying, and clenched her fists and practically screamed, "And now I've spent the whole night worried sick and here you come waltzing in looking like hell! What else, did you get married?"

I sat for a moment, letting her steam run out, then nodded. Solo blinked, "Come again?"

"The clothes thing is because I lost the key to my luggage so I couldn't get it open. But the other thing is well-" She sunk to the chair, looking defeated as I pulled out the ring waiting while she examined it closely.

It was a gorgeous ring, 14K white gold with four round diamonds at an angle, running diagonally from top to bottom. It was simple and masculine and his looks just like mine. Sadly, that's one of the few I can remember.

"Start from the beginning." Solo demanded, handing the ring back to me.

"Okay, well, what I can remember is this…" I hated that look that she gave me. Disappointment and guilt. I knew she was upset but I knew she felt like she'd somehow done something wrong. She made a joke about going with me to fend off all the sleazy guys there in those clubs. Well, at least she can rest easy with the fact he was not sleazy… he bought me that ring.

I took a breath and started, "Well, I went to Vegas and the whole week was great, I flirted with a few guys and danced a lot. That new outfit was a hit." That got the barest smile from her. "So, I was planning on leaving around midnight to get packed, just before I got your texts, then he came in. God he was gorgeous." That helped her too; he wasn't ugly. "Short, dark brown hair, perpetually messy and the deepest blue eyes, I can't even explain them and I love art."

"What does that have to do with it?" She asked. Solo knows I'm obscure but I guess that one was a little over her head.

"Art, good with colors. Paint wheel-" She nodded just to shut me up. "Anyway, he saw me on the dance floor with this guy named Cain and got me a drink.

"We drank and danced and I kept getting those drinks, they were _really_ powerful, and the poison started to sink in and I was losing grip and the dancing got stic-" Solo cut me off with a sharp wave of her hand, she apparently didn't want the details tonight. "Well, he took me out to his Pinto." Solo's fine little blonde eyebrows shot up and she couldn't hide the disgust in her voice as she croaked out,

"Pinto? Then how the hell did he afford a ring like this? It probably cost 2,000 if it cost anything." I just shrugged,

"He bought one for himself too." I nodded my head to where the leather coat still slumped, "That's his also."

"You stole his coat?" Solo sounded impressed slightly there.

I nodded, "And I thought about the Pinto too, but I left it because I got to the bus depot just as my bus was getting ready to leave.

"It's all very fuzzy after the dancing. But we drove around Vegas and-" Solo stopped me again.

She had bit her bottom lip slightly with a thoughtful look and had opened her mouth to stop me at least two times but didn't until I finally let her. "I know it's early and Father Taylor just did one of his 50 minute homilies about giving more money," Ah, good old dependable Father Taylor, thankfully he's not around much "and I'm still a little zoned out from that and finding out you're married that I think I lost one little detail. What was his name again?"

I cringed, visibly cringed and she was on alert. "I don't-"

"Don't what?" She ground out.

"I don't exactly know what it is." Solo went pale and then purple. "I know his first name is Heero."

Now that stumped her. "Hero? Like Super-?"

"No, there's a double 'e' in there. It's Japanese."

Solo sighed and said, "Does the Asian stereotype about his, you know, apply to him?" I love this girl.

"Let me get there please. We got to Vegas, went to a ring place just for the hell of it. The ring I liked actually fit both of us, which I still find creepy and we just took them and then went to the first gay, spontaneous chapel that didn't have Elvis as a preacher. Which is really hard to find, let me tell you. I remember signing the papers and doing all that then going to a really nice hotel that I swear we got the penthouse in and then-"

"Don't go there. I might want to hear this later but I don't care, except… was he good?"

I just smiled at her, "You are one very strange girl but yes he was… from what I can remember."

Solo nodded, "Okay then, proceed." I couldn't be more thankful that she was starting to loosen up. I was now beginning to feel less shitty about this.

"Well, I woke up really early Saturday morning and found him dead asleep and flipped. I got re-dressed and stole his coat because I really can't go walking around in my outfit. So, went back to my hotel, checked out very fast and got on the first bus going back in the direction of Wyoming. The end."

Solo shook her head, blonde ponytail bobbing around. "Wow, I think Hans Christian Anderson would be jealous of this story. Sweet, small town veterinarian, gets drunk in Vegas and gets married to a person whose last name he didn't know. Is there any I.D. in the pocket?" I shook my head, I'd dropped his wallet on the floor before I'd left, I'd even been a good boy and left all the money. "Damn… okay. Well, any other idea?"

"Not yet. God, Solo, I can't believe this!" She moved to the arm of the chair and hugged me close.

She didn't speak for a while. "Okay, we're not going to think about it right now. I will do a bit a research and see what I can come up with. I want you to just go on with life and not deal with anything just yet. Go to work tomorrow and pretend you didn't just get married and you don't even know your new last name." I glowered at her but she kissed the top of my head and got shakily to her feet and went into the kitchen to raid my chocolate stash, we knew we would need it.

* * *

`~`~`~`~`~`End, part one`~`~`~`~`~`

Okay, I know you haven't seen many people turn Solo into a girl, but I just felt like it. I've seen people turn Duo or Heero into a girl so I have my rights! Anyway, this is of course based off of the Carrie Underwood Song 'Last Name'. It's hilarious. I love it.

I'm going to turn this into a short story with a couple chapters about poor Duo's problem about being a church choir singing, married gay veterinarian man without a last name or any idea about who in the world he's married to.

`~`~`~`~`~`See ya`~`~`~`~`~`


	2. Big Shot

**Chapter Two**

Big Shot

* * *

I had one of the worst headaches in the world when I woke up. I'd had the weirdest dream; most likely from all the alcohol I'd consumed the previous night. In it I had met one of the most beautiful and entertaining men in existence and somehow gotten him to marry me. It's amazing what the mind can come up with.

With a groan I rolled over onto the cool, very empty spot next to me. He definitely had been a dream. Those legs that went on for miles and eyes that practically defied all that was natural and the body that should have been sin. He was most likely my imagination telling me what I really wanted instead of Relena.

Roughly I rubbed the back of my left hand across my cheek and felt cool metal scraping along my morning stubble. On my ring finger was the one I had picked out with him last night, just before I'd… no. That can't be right. He was just a dream, an amazing one at that, but he could have only been a dream. Then why in the world was this ring on my finger?

I shot up from the bed and took in the room, scrambling to find my coat. It wasn't there! My wallet and the keys to that unsightly Pinto were lying on the floor but the coat was gone. He had been there- and, oh God. I hadn't. It just wasn't possible.

I practically ripped my wallet open and there, folded neatly next to all my money was the marriage certificate signed by both of the two witnesses and us. I couldn't make out his name because it was written in sloppy, drunken, chicken scratch. It looked almost like 'Duo Marveil'. Had I married a man named Duo Marviel?

I sat back down on the bed, holding the paper in my hand and tried to remember the night. He'd been dancing on the floor, looking sexy as hell and I'd bought him a drink…or ten. Then we were both drunk but somehow we got to a chapel, which did our sort of spontaneous wedding and we were married and-had I actually bought two rings right then and there? I must have since this wasn't the ring I had planned on giving Relena.

I checked my wallet once more and found all my money, ID, and credit cards still in there. Well, at least he hadn't stolen any of that; I had to give him some credit. Somewhere in the mess of sheets that had been tossed to the floor in the throws of the previous night I could hear my phone ringing. I scrambled around in the piles until I grasped it and muttered, "Yuy."

"Were you still asleep?" Wufei growled, causing my ears to buzz. He didn't exactly have a voice that was made to soothe hangovers.

"Yeah, I have a bad headache."

Wufei growled again, "Well hurry up and get moving. You need to be at the airport in one hour so that you don't miss your flight. I need you here to help with the Tokyo presentation!"

"I'm getting ready right now." I replied and hung up. Great. I'd been in some very tough predicaments in my life but this was one of the worst. How was I going to explain this to Wufei? I needed to find this Duo Marviel man and get a divorce as fast as possible!

I showered, dressed, brushed my hair and was out of the presidential suite after thirty minutes. I'd even found some time to search the room for any hint I could find of Duo's presence. He hadn't had much on his body that night but he could have left some sort of hint to make my life easier!

As I was checking out I leaned over the counter to whisper at the lady who was helping me, "Did a man with long brown hair leave here this morning?"

She nodded pleasantly and smiled, "Yes, about two hours ago. He asked for instructions to the nearest bus depot and which bus would be best to point him in the direction of Salt Lake City, Utah." I thanked her profusely and wrote, Salt Lake City, on my hand. I was sure that when I'd used that opening line of "Hey cutie where you from?" He hadn't replied Utah… but I really wasn't sure.

I took the Pinto, which was still unharmed (I don't know why I expected it to be trashed) and drove at breakneck speeds to the airport and thankfully got rid of the monstrosity at the car rental area. After forging my way through security and everything else I got to my flight and boarded right on time. As I was settling down in first class Wufei called me again. "You'd better damn well be on that plane."

"I am, don't worry. Listen, can you do a search for a Duo Marviel of Utah for me?"

"Why?" He asked suspiciously.

I couldn't really tell him with flight attendants and other passengers around so I just said, "I'll explain when I get back. Just see if you can find anything." He consented and I hung up, leaning back to try and make my headache go down before it got any worse.

The flight lasted forever but the second I was off the plane I had my phone out and was calling Wufei. "Did you find anything?" I asked when he gave me his brusque greeting.

"No. I couldn't find anyone by that name. Heero, what the Hell is going on?" Wufei demanded.

I grabbed my travel bag and said, "I'll be at the office in a few minutes and I'll explain. Keep looking." Then I hung up. In my car I popped a few Tylenol and rubbed my temple. This trip to Las Vegas was supposed to be a way to get me to calm down and reconsider Relena-…

At my building I went straight to my office and flopped into my chair, and stared out the large windows at the cold city around me. I'd only gotten ten minutes to myself before Wufei busted down my door and stormed over to my desk. "Why the hell do you have me looking for some random man in Utah-" He started, but I stopped him before he could really go on.

"I got married last night to a man whose last name I don't even know. I have no idea where he is now because he disappeared before I woke up. When I asked if people knew where he'd gone they said he took a bus- to Utah… but I don't think that's where he told me where he's from. I'm sure he told me something else when I used that pick up line Zechs told me to."

Wufei's black eyes widened. "You actually used that?"

"Well, it worked didn't it?"

"A little too well." Wufei muttered, looking at the ring on my left hand like it was sign of all things evil.

"Now I need to track him down and divorce him." I finished, turning back to my computer to turn it on and pull up a search engine.

"Why?" I stopped dead in my tracks, my hands poised over the keyboard. When I looked up at Wufei, wide-eyed he continued. "Last week you were about to walk down the aisle to marry Relena Peacecraft, but, instead you ran away a day before it and spent five days lounging around Vegas. You know how tenacious she is, and right now she's still waiting for but as we all know, you absolutely detest her.

"Use this to your advantage. If you actually come back to Relena, telling her you got married and you're perfectly happy with your new beau she'll most likely get off your back, or at least back off in order to avoid a lawsuit. Also she wouldn't go to the press about it because, why would she want to tell the press that you married a man instead of her? Find this Duo person and woo him, you'll get rid of Relena. It may be a little controversial for a while but you're powerful enough that I doubt anyone will care. Hell, Trieze married Zechs and no one cared. Just think about the advantages to having this guy around." Wufei tapped the top of my desk.

"Think about it and don't forget the meeting." I nodded and leaned back in my chair, staring at the screen. Maybe Wufei did have a point. I had only planned on marrying Relena because people saw us as a power couple, her; the self-titled 'Queen of Peace' and me the top executive for one of the most powerful technology companies. I really did hate her but I was willing to put up with being around her just for the convenience of the marriage.

I stayed at the office, catching up on the work I'd missed, and left after ten to my apartment. I then took another shower, letting the cool water hit my body. It helped because every time I closed my eyes I saw Duo's body sprawled out before me and my head began to ache again. I was just about to get ready to change when one single word entered my mind. Wyoming.

I wrapped a towel around my waist and sprinted to my computer to type 'Duo Marviel, Wyoming' into the search engine. My heart plummeted when nothing came up so I tried a few more combinations and came up with nothing still.

I got up, slightly frustrated as I paced around the cool carpet. What else could I use? I sat down once more and just took two words and typed them down, not expecting much.

When the computer processed 'Duo, Wyoming' the first entry was that came up was entitled "Wyoming Jazz Duos" but the second one was the one that caught my attention; "Duo Maxwell, opens South Butte Animal Hospital."

My hand slipped once as I tried to grasp the mouse and move it to click the link. When I finally did a web page from the Dustin Gazette came up with a picture of the man from the previous night. He looked gorgeous, even in a smock with cartoon cats on in. He was in the process of examining a falcon that rested on the table before him; his luxurious braid falling sideways over one shoulder and pooling near the bird. A petite girl held the bird's wings down, her lips curled into a small smile as she watched him work.

The article read that Duo Maxwell, age 25 at the time, had just opened South Butte Animal Clinic. It was a small clinic that was run mainly by him and his sister, Solo. Duo specialized in Equine care, birds of prey, and animal acupuncture and was the only doctor that did that in the southwest Wyoming area. He had a nice kennel in the back to board cats and dogs and was planning on going to the in town corals for horse calls. There was another picture with him standing in front of the sign for the clinic with Solo by his side.

I quickly copied the link and sent it to Wufei. About thirty minutes later Wufei called me. His opening line was, "Isn't Wyoming in Canada?"

"No, it's near Nevada though. So, what do you think?"

Wufei snorted. "He seems like a very good boy." His voice dripped with contempt as he started talking like a baby. "I really can't see him as the type to get married to a complete stranger. I can't even see him going nuts enough to get drunk in Vegas or _anywhere_ for that matter."

"Trust me, looks are definitely deceiving."

Wufei yawned on the other end. "I would advise you to actually go there and see him, it would give him a better impression of you. You'll need all the help you can get."

"I'll set up a flight for next week." What did he mean I'd need all the help I could get?

"Good idea. Now rest up, I'm sure dealing with Tokyo tomorrow's going to be long and hard." I told him good night and hung up, only to look through the article and a few of the archives about Duo.

He definitely was a character and from his pictures of him on the basketball team and doing plays in high school he seemed like a very sweet guy. I almost hated taking advantage of him… but if it got Relena out of my way, well, I was willing to do almost anything.

I smirked and printed off the article and tucked it into my briefcase and set the ring to the side of my bed and fell into a light sleep.

In the morning I found three messages on my cell phone. One was from Zechs, who wanted to see if his pickup line had actually worked, and the other two were from Relena. The first started out, "Hello Heero, darling, I just heard through the grapevine that you just got back from Vegas." That actually meant that she had a few of her spies watching my building to see when I got back. "I do hope that you're okay. I was so surprised when you called the wedding off. I know having cold feet is very rough and I'm willing to give you some time to reconsider my offer of marrying me. Well, have a good night sweetie."

The second was more of the emotion I had been hoping for. "I was just told that you got married to some slut in Vegas!" She screeched. "Well, I hope you plan on divorcing whomever this person is, no one there could have possibly been good enough for you!" She audibly took a breath and continued. "If you are planning on getting a divorce I'm more than willing to take you back." Then she hung up. I almost smiled when she did, I could almost taste freedom!

I got up and dressed in one of my snappiest suits and as I left got on my phone to call Relena. She picked up on the first ring, "Hello Heero!" She chirruped.

"Relena. I received your messages."

"Oh good, now that rumor I heard about your marriage…"

"Is completely true. His name is Duo and-"

"His?" Relena scoffed loudly.

"Yes, his. He's a very amazing man. Right now he's still back in his home in Wyoming and we're still figuring out how to manage our relationship. I'm very happy with him and I was hoping that you, as my long time friend, would be happy for me also."

Relena choked on the other line before squawking out, "Yes, I'm very happy. I hope that you can bring this… Duo? Yes, Duo here to meet us."

I chuckled, trying to sound affectionate, which to even me sounded strange. "I'm not sure how he would do here. He's very small town, I'm sure that New York society would be a little overwhelming to him. I just got him and I don't know if I want my friends scaring him off."

"Small town? How small town?"

"Population of 10,000." I knew Relena was working hard not to faint as she replied breathily,

"Well, then, someday maybe."

"Someday. Well, I'll talk to you soon Goodbye Relena." I hung up and practically whistled all the way to my car. Yes, today was going to be an amazing day.

* * *

`~`~`~`~`~`End Part Two`~`~`~`~`~`

I just love all the people who's added this to their story alert lists and reviewed! I love getting those little notices and they make me want to write more (hint hint). Anyway, I hope you all liked this! Reviews are worshipped and Flames are not frowned upon either.

So, here's the second chapter told from the point of Heero! Yes, this has Relena bashing (just because she annoys the hell out of me) and Zechs and Trieze are married. Don't ask.

I didn't realize how much of a cold, manipulative bastard I'd written Heero as… but it works. I'm going to have fun with him! Wufei's pretty cruel too but at least he can pull off being sexy _and_ cruel at the same time. Well, that's it for now! Bye!

Oh yeah, this song title is from Billy Joel.

`~`~`~`~`~`See ya`~`~`~`~`~`


	3. Don't Stand So Close To Me

**Chapter Three**

Don't Stand So Close To Me

_(Duo's POV)_

* * *

"Quatre, don't you have any work to do?" I asked, coming up to the front desk where my receptionist, Quatre Winner, lounged back in his executive leather chair. He looked up from the book he was reading and grinned at me,

"I finished pulling files for tomorrow and I've already finished the med and food orders."

I plunked myself down in my favorite spinny chair and looked over the appointment book. "So, I pay you to do nothing?"

He just chuckled and flipped the page, "I'm never doing nothing." Solo says that Quat looks like an older, male version of Shirley Temple-with his blonde hair and large light blue eyes- but he certainly is no dimple-faced sweetheart. I've watched him wrestle an uncooperative Pit-Bull to the floor and hold him there to get his shots.

Quatre had started to work for me three years ago when he was fresh out of college. He was a kid from a big family completely isolated from the rest of the world and was in the process of 'seeking a new life'. I hadn't known he was filthy rich until a year after he started when he bought me a Rolex for my birthday and a new X-Ray machine for Christmas.

Trowa came up behind me and leaned over my shoulder. "It looks pretty quiet for a while." He stated, smirking when I jumped. The guy moves quieter than any cat I've ever met and even though he's been working for me for two years he still gets a kick out of surprising me.

They'd grown very close to my sister and me and since neither of them had any family in the area they almost considered us as their family. That closeness of ours makes them feel entitled to know everything that's going on in my life. That's also why, the second I came to work last Monday they cornered me and forced me to tell them why I was late coming back from Vegas.

I'd told them I'd overslept and had had my phone stolen but those excuses didn't work. Quatre's has this strange tendency to be overly sensitive and that makes it close to impossible to lie to him. Finally, after they had me cornered for a few minutes I broke down and told them. Both were sympathetic but jokes started flying around between those two and Solo about my new marital status, I chose to ignore them.

Things after that had been pretty simple, they made jokes and I worked on forgetting I was married to a stranger. It was a nice system, until some idiot had to throw a monkey wrench into the cogs.

I was happily ensconced in a conversation with Quatre about Halloween and our regular movie bash when Trowa suddenly turned pale white and stared at Quatre like he was the Ghost of Christmas Future.

"What?" Quatre asked, very concerned.

"Why do I see Kona Murphy's name on this appointment book?" His voice is usually very steady and calming but then he just sounded beyond freaked out and I didn't blame him. I looked at the appointment book and scheduled for an hour later was, sure enough, Kona's name, scrawled in light, very tiny handwriting. Almost giving the appearance that Quatre was trying to hide it.

"K-Kona?" I stammered when I was able to breathe again.

Quarter nodded slowly, looking very Bambi-in-the-headlights as he said, "No one else will take him and Bev is freaking out. He has an infected leg and he might need stitches and she needs to go on a business trip and can't board him anywhere else and… he needs a bath." I heard a choking noise coming from Trowa but I was still working on finding my voice when Quatre rushed on, "I tried to resist but she said she would actually pay double for the two weeks and triple for the bath." He gave me his patented 'Bambi eyes' and I just nodded and walked away.

I had an hour to secure myself against Kona "Cujo" Murphy and I knew we'd need help so I called in Solo. She actually owns a very cute store downtown where she sells books and coffee. The ironic part is that she hates coffee but she likes the smell. As soon as she heard me begging over the phone she put Misty in charge and ran right over. I love my sister. When Quatre saw her he almost kissed her and cried, "Bless you!"

I never thought that such a small girl could look so tough wearing a skirt from the 70's and a top with the grumpy carebear on it, but she somehow managed. "Okay, start the countdown." She said and started to set up the back surgery table.

About 5 minutes before Kona's appointment the door opened and Solo, Trowa, and I all tensed and I swear I saw Trowa twitch towards the back door to the kennels and onto freedom but was stopped as Quatre called "False alarm, but suit up all the same. Hello sir, how may I help you?" I didn't listen to the rest of the conversation as Solo helped me pull my long hair up under my ratty old, black cap and put on the heavy gloves I use for birds of prey and the cover to protect against the X-ray machine.

"Hey Duo?" Quatre came up behind me, looking very worried. "There's a guy here who swears he's not a solicitor and he doesn't need help with his pet. He just wants to see you." I knew Quatre's freaky empathic senses were at work but I didn't want to dwell on why, I was still concentrating on my impending doom.

I just shrugged at the others and moved to the front desk but stopped before I got into the reception area. The blue-eyed God who'd been driving me nuts for weeks was leaning over my counter and staring at me with those crazy eyes of his. And here I was standing in camouflage pants and looking like I was ready to do battle with the Huns. Then he smiled a slow, sexy smile and said, "You're a very hard man to track down, Doctor Maxwell."

Solo popped up behind me, seeing me standing stock still in the doorway then her eyes slide to him and then to me and then to him and then behind him. Before she could say anything (thankfully) a car drove up and she cried. "Incoming!" Quatre darted forward to take his seat at the front and I said to _him_ as Solo ran back quickly,

"I advise you move out of the way." My voice was more than shaky from seeing him and recognizing Bev's car.

"What?" He looked stunned, almost like no one had ever told him to move in his life.

"For the love of God, if you don't want to die today move out of the way!" I replied and Quatre waved him around the counter.

"Take shelter here, I advise you duck down. You never know what he's got up his furry sleeve." Quatre supplied. _He_just stared at Quatre who finally got irritated and clapped his hands together. "Move it! Move it! Move it! Everyone! To your battle stations!" And he moved it, ducking around the corner and into a chair just as Bev came in.

Everything exploded into a frenzy of sound as Bev Murphy practically threw the cat carrier on the counter and called over Kona's bloody screams, "Thanks so much Doctor Maxwell. I'll be back the Monday after next! Stay safe!" That woman has a sick sense of humor. I just gave her a wan smile as she bolted back out of the clinic and into the sanctuary of her car.

The second Quatre picked up the carrier and headed to the back, all thoughts of my visitor left my mind and I went back to the open surgery table start. Over Kona's screeches and growls I commanded Quatre to tilt the carrier up until the cat tumbled out into my arms. Immediately he sunk his teeth as far as he could into the thick leather gloves and his back claws attached to my skin, just above where the gloves ended so he was practically clinging to my arm while trying to scratch me with his front claws. The funny thing is, he's supposed to be declawed.

As I shouted orders through my clenched teeth everyone worked in perfect order to get the spawn of Satan off my arm and anesthetized. One of the many problems with Kona is that he's one of those cats that don't go under anesthesia easily and while asleep there's a very real chance of him waking up at any moment and start attacking again.

We worked quickly with only one real close brush with him waking up. After 30 minutes I had stitched up some pretty bad gouges on his body and forced medicine to help with his leg. I was so afraid to actually know what he'd been fighting and Trowa came up with the possibility of a mountain lion-don't laugh, it's a very feasible possibility with this cat.

Solo took over the charge of stuffing the ferocious feline back into his carrier and gingerly taking him to the farthest corner cat cage in the back so he didn't scare the others or any of the smaller dogs in the runs. So, finally, we returned back to our posts. Quatre, covered in fur, went to the desk; Trowa, to the bathroom to take care of one pretty nasty scar on his arm; and me, blood seeping through my shirt where Kona took away some skin, went back to my office. I'd hoped for some quiet time until Trowa was done with the bathroom but apparently I wasn't going to have it.

I slumped over in my chair, my head hitting my desk. I couldn't believe it. This had turned into one of the- "That was quite the show." Wait? What?

I turned around so fast I almost got whiplash, and just stared. My jaw dropped to the ground and I think I lost all the color in my face. He stood there, holding a book on equine rearing, and looking completely at ease. Blue eyes turned on me and a smirk crossed his lips lazily. "Do you usually get clients like that?" Heero asked conversationally, snapping the book shut and replacing it.

"Not usually, it's Quat's fault that I had to work on it-" I spluttered, feeling very trapped as he advanced my way, "Why are you here?" I demanded, scooting my chair back.

Heero turned around and leaned against the edge of the desk to face me, pulling my arm into his hands. They were warm against my exposed skin and the way he touched me made me shiver. "I came to see you." He started simply and I suddenly felt relieved.

"To figure out divorce arrangements, of course. You could have just calle-" I stopped when he gave me a very confused look, his fingers weaving through mine.

"What gave you that idea?" My jaw hit the floor once more.

"What?" I screeched, wrenching my arm from his grasp.

Heero stood as I leapt from my chair, "I don't want a divorce." Was this guy nuts? He had to be. I opened my mouth a few times but each time no sound came out, I probably looked ridiculous-like a fish out of water. "I want to get to know you. There obviously was a connection between us that night in Vegas-"

"We were drunk!" I hollered.

Heero sent me a death glared that effectively shut me up. He took me by the shoulders and pushed me back into the chair, "But there had to have been something to set that off. I just think it would be better for us if we got to get to know each other first before we did anything rash."

"Rasher that getting married on a wild night in Vegas?" I quipped, crossing my arms over my chest. "Why won't you let me divorce you?"

"I told you, I want-"

I rolled my eyes and fixed him with my own irritated stare, "to get to know me. Bullshit. I can already tell just by looking at you we're so different it wouldn't work." For emphasis I looked him up and down. "Nice jacket, sexy and styled haircut-most likely professional, power stance. You most likely have crap loads of money-how else could you have bought that ring? I'm sure that even though that's a rental car out there it's more expensive than my house. You're big business and I'm a small town hick working hard to keep my home. No matter what, any attempt at a relationship with me will fail so I advise you just go back to where ever you flew in from. Send me the paperwork and I'll sign it right away."

I leaned back in my chair and folded my arms, staring at the screen. He grasped the top of my seat and turned me around again to face him, his expression now livid. "What does money or location have to do with anything? Are you afraid of commitment? Afraid to have anyone close to you? What is it?"

I jumped to my feet and pushed him back, "I don't want a relationship. I'm happy with my life and having anyone liking me is going to screw up the pattern I've set up here. People are barely beginning to accept that I'm gay; I don't need anyone coming in and ruining that for me. So get out!" I pointed to the door and he stood his place. I kept praying that he would actually leave because I was beginning to run out of ammo _and_ was on the verge of crying.

"Fine." It took me a second to realize that he'd spoken. "I'll go but I'm not giving up so easily." He took my hand, gave it a business-like squeeze and turned to go out the door.

I fell back into my chair and watched through my window as he moved to the shiny vehicle parked out front and leaned on the hood of it to pull out his cell phone and dial a number. Solo walked past my door and knocked to get my attention. "I'm going to go, okay honey?" I nodded.

"Thanks for your help today." She grinned and winked at me.

"What are sisters for?" Solo flashed a quick piece sign my way and headed outside.

I stared thorough the window as Solo moved stand in front of Heero. When he didn't acknowledge her presence she took his phone, spoke into it, waited for a response and hung up. She spoke to Heero for a moment and nodded for him to follow him to her truck. He hesitated and then moved into her old clunker as she started it up and drove down Uinta dr.

I pulled my legs up to my chest and turned toward the computer screen. I couldn't let him close, I couldn't let anyone close to my heart except the ones who I was sure I could trust. He may have been my soul mate (which was very unlikely) but I just couldn't afford to let myself like him, no matter what.

If I actually let Heero close and found myself in love with him I couldn't do anything about it. The only reason I wasn't being ostracized by the people of the church and the town was because I grew up there and most knew me as their sweet little Duo… who just happened to have one huge flaw. If I was going to be able to keep my clinic and my home I was just going to have to give the appearance of a monk.

Qutare came into the office and found me pouting and came to put his arm around my shoulders. "I know you're trying to protect your image and by acting like a cold, unattached bastard… but what if Heero is a really nice guy? What if he really is trying to get to know you because he liked you?"

"He liked my body Quat." I hissed. "All that stuff about a connection was just bullshit. I can't see anybody who drives a rented Mazerati and wears Italian sports jackets coming after a guy like me if there wasn't something in it for him."

Suddenly Quat's hand whipped out and stuck the back of my head. "Stop playing the angsty 'Harry Potter' route. There is nothing wrong with you; you're gorgeous and smart. Leave it at that and stop saying 'poor, poor pitiful me'. Now buck up old paint, you have a patient in one."

I just stared after Quatre in amazement as he patted the top of my head and meandered away. He was right but I just wasn't about to let myself admit it. I couldn't let _him_ in; there was no way in hell that was going to happen. I just kept wishing he wouldn't try to stand so damn close to me.

Finally I got up and moved to the door, finding a business card resting on one of my file folders. It was a very official looking one, much nicer than my own. On it was a picture of Heero looking amazing in a business suit and tie and scowling at the camera. It read: 'Heero Yuy, Top Executive of Lowe International Technology. New York, New York.' It gave his address, work number, and cell number. Against my better judgment I put it in my scrub pocket and went to exam room number one with my happy mask on.

In the back of my mind though I couldn't help but think about what the Hell Solo was doing with Heero. I tried not to worry about it as the day wrapped up but it was hard because she wasn't responding to any of the messages I send her.

By the end of the day, somewhere in between all my appointments Heero's car disappeared. That alleviated some of my worries but not all. I sort of felt like I was in the middle of a ping pong game, going back and forth between being worried about him being gone and being elated at the possibility of him being gone. I seriously hate vicious cycles.

Just as I was getting into my car Solo finally called me? "Where did you go?" I demanded without preamble.

She sighed and I couldn't almost hear her roll her eyes. "Back to my store. Listen I'll tell you everything in a bit, just hurry your cute little butt on home. I'm starving and I'm in the process of making angel hair pasta."

I hung up and started my car. She sounded fine, a little more annoyed than usual. Quickly I sped out of my parking lot and straight home.

* * *

Quick ending I know, but I really needed to finish the chapter.

This song title comes from the Sting & the Police. I meant to have this up last Friday but I went to State Drama and had absolutely no time to work on this or do anything other than limp around the CWC campus. I hate being a gimp.. even though my mom and best friend had to sprint to keep up with me when I was going to be late for a friend's monologue.

Anyway, I kept thinking as I wrote this chapter, 'Damn… Duo reminds me of Harry Potter from the later books when he was really getting angsty.' I hate that he's so emo but… I really had no other idea about how to get my point across. I promise I'll make up for it!!!

I love all the reviews I've been getting. They've really made my day!

Please excuse how rough these chapters are. I don't have a beta reader to check over them…

`~`~`~`~`~`So anyway, See ya!`~`~`~`~`~`


	4. Mr Guder

**Chapter Four**

Mr. Guder

_Notes:_ I know that a lot of people are getting mad at Heero, but I promise he'll stop being such a bastard sooner or later.

Also, thanks to Neko-chan -Silvered Tongue- who is pretty much amazing for beta-ing this.

_Disclaimer:_ Never owned any of these characters, except my view on Solo and the short view of Misty.

* * *

I never understood the workings of relationships. I was knowledgeable in multiple other areas… but never the 'wooing' of the fairer sex, or any wooing of any kind. When I had to ask a girl on a date or anything else, I would observe her, find her weak points, and then play to them. Often, in my mind, I would create a vague script of the situation that, nine times out of ten, would work.

That same method of observation and then creating a script was my main strategy when it came to business, and it almost always worked--which was why I had the big office with the window. And, before I left for Wyoming, Wufei and Zechs gave me few pointers about how to win Duo over.

They both assured me that he wouldn't be that hard to get. Being in such a small town and having a 'guy like me' (as they put it) after him, he would take a week, two at the most, to finally cave. Thus, I had put in for a two week vacation, which wasn't hard to achieve because I work so much and have so many vacation days saved up I could keep vacationing until I'm old enough to retire.

Wyoming wasn't as bad as Wufei had made it out to be. He'd made it seem like it was like a heathen society with cowboys running around and where people don't drive cars, but instead ride horses. Well, when I stepped off the pathetic twelve-seater puddle jumper plane, I didn't see any roughriders herding cattle--but there was a man sitting in the small waiting terminal with a cowboy hat on.

The landscape was more or less barren with sagebrush and dirt everywhere, and I had to search to see a tree. It was close to the end of October, and the air was very crisp and dry; a hard wind kept pushing me and my eleven other companions as we struggled across the tarmac to the terminal.

Even if it wasn't Hell, I had to admit: I now knew why people escaped to live in New York and bigger cities. I called Wufei while I waited for my bags after getting the keys to my rental car. "Chang," he answered brusquely.

"I don't see any Indians," I replied, not feeling the need to introduce myself to him.

"Just wait--I'm sure some are just over the ridge," he grunted, apparently annoyed at something. "So, you've arrived."

I watched as the baggage area opened and people started to push the bags through the slots. "I'm waiting for my bag. The rental car associate told me that Dustin is apparently in the neighboring town—twenty-five miles away from here. There's nothing between Rock Roads and Dustin except I-80."

"It's still a mystery to me as to why people want to live in places like that," Wufei muttered. I had no idea what he had against places like Wyoming, but it was easy to tell that he'd been offended somewhere along the line. "I need to work on the London deal." And, with that, he finished the conversation.

The drive to Dustin was lackluster, just mountains jutting up everywhere and semi-trucks closing in on all sides.

The town of Dustin was much more refreshing. There was a long river running through the middle and trees planted everywhere. Bronze statues were stationed along the sidewalks, and people walked their dogs and talked to passers-by. It was easy to tell that the people of the town actually cared about its appearance, which was a new concept to me. I was used to millions of cars and people and noise.

I dropped my bags off at the Oak Tree Hotel, the newest and probably best choice over the Cowboy Motel and the Stagecoach Inn. After resting for a moment, I put on my best Italian Jacket, nicest jeans, Ray-bans, and then made my way to Duo's clinic. A good first impression was apparently the best way to go when trying to accomplish what I was trying to do.

South Butte Animal Clinic was quaint, just like in the newspaper picture. There were decorative fall leaves strung on a garland around the door and a nice yard to the side. It actually didn't seem all that bad… it seemed to fit in with the autumn feel of the town.

Inside, a doll-like boy was sitting behind the counter, idly looking through a book. He glanced up at me quickly with a deer-in-the-headlights expression, but he smiled a second later and held up one finger to yell, "False alarm, but suit up all the same." Then he turned back to say in a pleasant voice, "Hello, sir; how may I help you?"

It took a second to recover after that unexpected outburst from him, but I replied: "I'm here to meet with Doctor Maxwell."

He furrowed his brow and looked at a book under the top counter. "Do you have a question about your pet?"

I shook my head; I'd heard that tone of voice before when my secretary used it to ward off salespeople. "I'm not a solicitor. I just need to speak with him. It's a _private_ matter." I made sure to put enough emphasis on the word 'private.' The boy narrowed his eyes at me, then got up to move out of my sight. He spoke with someone in the back and, a moment later, Duo slouched to the reception area.

He was quite the sight, wearing camouflage pants, an old cap, and heavy gloves. The look that he gave me was one of pure shock, so I 'slathered on the charm'--as Wufei had so elegantly put it and smiled… or tried to smile at him, "You're a very hard man to track down, Doctor Maxwell." He just went on to gape at me like a fish.

I hadn't been expecting to have a reaction like that. I'd planned out the whole encounter in my mind. I scripted out what I would say and then planned a few different reactions to that, just branching off from there so that the end would be perfect and clean. Apparently, Duo didn't operate like my usual business colleagues.

The blonde woman from the picture popped up out of nowhere and looked between the both of us until she practically shocked me out of my skin by screaming: "Incoming!"

The blonde boy darted around Duo to take his earlier seat, and then Duo surprised me again by telling me to move. That wasn't what I'd scripted, so I had no idea how to reply to him quickly and intelligently. "What?" I'd replied dumbly

"For the love of God, if you don't want to die today, move out of the way!" he screamed, and the boy caught my attention and instructed me to come around the counter. I didn't move until he started to command me and jar me out of my stupor. After I sat down was when I heard the screams, and I looked up into the eyes of Evil. The boy and a woman shouted a conversation over the screams of what I was guessing was a cat… or some strange hybrid thereof.

Duo had disappeared and the boy followed right afterward. I didn't know if it was safe to follow, but I jumped up when I heard someone start cussing. I poked my head around the corner to find the cat ripping and tearing at Duo's shirt and a tall, red-haired man, the boy, and the blonde girl all trying to wrestle the animal off without taking more of Duo's skin than the cat already had.

I'd only watched for a moment, but that was all I really needed; I'd seen enough. I sidled away and towards a few open doors on the other side of the cat, and I ducked around a corner to find a short hall with a bathroom and a room that turned out to be Duo's office.

It was small with one desk, a few hand-made bookshelves, a T.V., and millions of books. Some were murder mystery novels but most were medical manuals on animal treatment. The wall was covered with newspaper clippings about different people from around the town and two framed features at the top. One was the one I'd read about his clinic, and the other was about his sister's store.

On the desk were multitudes of pictures of him and his sister and a few other people, all smiling happily. As I gazed at a picture of him kneeling next to a huge black dog, I felt a strange twinge in the vicinity of what I assumed was my heart. Not knowing what the feeling was for, I just wrote it off as a strange reaction to the new climate. It was strange seeing such a cluttered desk since the only things on my desk were my computer and phone.

I picked up the photo and took it from it frame, tucking it in my shirt pocket and hiding away the frame in the far recesses of one of the drawers. After that, I moved on to the shelves and picked up a few novels at random to see what he liked; most of them turned out to be by the same author and were supernatural thrillers about murders involving Indians and Indian legends. (1)

I put those away when I realized that it sounded like the surgery was finishing up and suddenly didn't know what to do with myself. I couldn't tell if I was actually nervous because I'd never really been nervous before, but I didn't know what to say to Duo; he'd already broken from my original scripts. I didn't have enough information to create a new one. I finally just reached up and grabbed a book at random and started to glance at the pictures as he breezed by me and clunked down at his desk.

When he didn't notice me for a while, I spoke up: "That was quite the show."

He spun around to face me, looking somewhere between fear and something else until he realized who I was. Then he just looked agitated. When he didn't speak up, I tried again. "Do you usually get clients like that?" The pictures had started to make me sick, so I hid the book out of sight.

Duo spluttered something about a cat or something, but he righted himself and got in my face. He kept ranting on and on about a divorce and I began to panic; this wasn't what was on the plan. I couldn't get a divorce. That may have been my initial plan, but now that I was on the fast track to getting rid of Relena, I wasn't going to back down.

I kept trying to get him to calm down and start seeing things my way, but the idiot stubbornly refused and went on and on about our differences and his deficiencies. It was down right horrifying to hear someone as beautiful as him talking about himself like that. My officemates had often called me 'Ice-King Yuy,' but there was something deep down in me that wouldn't let him keep saying the things that he was.

I turned his chair around without any words preplanned and started to fight back. It was a strange feeling; I actually felt the anger in my voice as I drilled him about his phobia of committing. All these emotions were foreign to me, and I didn't know how to handle them as they boiled up right and left.

I had apparently hit a nerve as he seemed to stall for a moment and that second was enough to give me time to collect myself. I hated being out of control; the second I'd walked into the building everything had begun to crumble… but I just couldn't let it. A man who allowed his emotions free reign in a project would fail when the project itself failed.

Abruptly, Duo jumped up and yelled for me to leave. I knew I was beaten for the moment, but I wasn't going to back down; I never backed down once I was in a project. I told him I would be back and just left, feeling thankful for the breath of fresh (albeit, dry) air as I walked to my car.

My head was swimming and at that moment I felt almost… weak. Which was something I refused to be. I'd just have to revamp my strategy and hit from a different point. I already had some ammunition I could use, but it just wasn't enough. I pulled out my phone to relay what was happening to Wufei but had barely started the report when the blonde, Solo, I think her name was, came up and tugged my phone from my hand.

I just stared at her in surprise as she spoke into the phone. "Hello? Hi, Heero's going to have to call you back later tonight. Is that all right? … Okay, thank you very much." She hung up and put my phone into my pocket for me. "How about a cup of coffee?" was all she said. When I didn't move, she just nodded to what I'd taken for a pile of rust earlier.

As it turned out, the pile of rust was actually a truck, which rattled and coughed and made me think it was going to fall apart at any moment. I didn't speak as she drove because I kept concentrating on the road, making sure to remember every street she went down to in case this was a horribly planned kidnapping. Finally, she broke the silence with: "I know your name's Heero, but what's your last name?"

"Yuy," I replied curtly.

A small smile crossed her lips. "Ah, alright. I'm Solo Maxwell, Duo's sister."

"So I surmised." Solo just leaned back in her seat and kept driving quietly until she pulled up alongside a streetfront building with a sign that read _'The Book and Bean.'_

Solo didn't tell me anything, just got out of the rust bucket and sauntered into her building. I sat for a while until a big man with a crazed look slunk past the truck and stared at me as he moved past, so I hurried out of the car and into the establishment. Books lined every free space except for two areas in front of the big store windows where a couch and coffee talbe sat with a glass chess set and another few chairs were stationed by smaller tables.

Solo was already behind the counter talking to another woman. "Thanks so much, Misty."

"It's no problem. Is Duo all right?"

"A few abrasions, but he's a big boy; he'll be fine," Solo replied as she began to mix up a pot of coffee.

"Well, in that case okay, I'll see you later." They waved at each other and then the woman left, smiling at me as she went on by.

I really didn't know what to do with myself as I watched Solo putter around the counter, making two drinks. Eventually, I set myself down in one of the chairs by the tables and just waited.

Solo came up to me a little while later and handed me a cup of coffee, keeping some concoction that looked almost like Gin to herself. We sat in another strained silence for a while until I broke that awkward silence. "Aren't you going to drill me, demand to know why I'm here?" That was what I'd planned out.

She just leveled me with her intense blues and said simply, "No." I raised one eyebrow in surprise, causing her to roll her eyes. "This isn't a Lifetime movie. You're probably a man of reason, a man with a plan. You know how you want things to work out and you know how to get them. I know; I was almost like you in that respect. So, just because of that, I'm not going to interfere."

I just nodded. "He's throwing me off my script, though," I murmured, not really realizing that I'd said it until it was out of my mouth. So, to coolly cover my tracks, I took a sip of my coffee which turned out to be actually very good.

"I'm sorry Duo's so combative. He's been like that his whole life: always afraid of relationships, so sure that almost everyone he lets in his heart will end up disappointing him." Her voice sounded tired as she said that, like she thought it was the most absurd thing ever and she'd heard it a million times over. She turned to me, crushing me with a stare that some of the best businessmen only wished they could do. "I'm not going to deny that I didn't listen into your and Duo's conversation; you two were pretty loud when you both started screaming.

"At first sight, I really didn't take you as one to be so passionate. I actually really thought you had tracked him down to get a divorce, but then you had to turn the tables like that. From my personal experience, most _businessmen_ like you usually avoid any sort of relationships because they interfere with their work. So, I probably should warn you, Duo's the kind of person who demands attention. If you really wanted him, then you're going to have to work very hard; he's not one to be thrown to the side."

I just watched her as she spoke, soaking up every word and processing it. There was contempt in her voice when she said 'businessmen' and affection when she said her brother's name. But underneath it all was a well-disguised warning. I could tell it was there, I just couldn't understand what the warning was for. She couldn't have figured me out so fast; I'd given her no reason to.

"I don't plan on treating him like that," I replied civilly. She smiled and tilted her head in my direction.

"Good; then we don't have anything to worry about, do we?" She stirred the cream in her drink that had sunk to the bottom. "Anyway, I know I just promised to not interfere, but could you explain to me _why_ you decided that you wanted to stay married? He's a complete stranger that you met on a drunken night and you're his complete opposite. He usually says everything that's on his mind and you mince your words; Duo is outgoing and you remind me of Mr. Guder (2). Should I go on?"

I shook my head. I knew she'd get to this sooner or later--I just hadn't expected her to slip it in so tactfully. I knew that, from this point on, it would be hard to lie to her; she seemed like the kind of person who could easily catch any sort of mistake. Thus, I decided to bend the truth. "He's a change from what I'm used to. I was going to be married to a woman who is the perfect political and business wife, but she wasn't what I wanted. I got away from her and suddenly Duo was there and perfect. He intrigued me. I was jumping out of my skin around him and let myself become intoxicated enough to do something as crazy as marry him. When he disappeared, I just… I didn't want to let him go that easily."

Solo's smile was tight. "That's a nice story. But words are hollow. I believe in the phrase 'actions speak louder than words.'" She didn't even have to finish the statement for me to finally get her meaning. I would have to win her approval along with Duo's, and she wasn't going to cut me any slack.

I just nodded and her smile became less challenging. She looked pointedly at my coffee. "You'd better hurry up and finish that before it gets cold; I don't give refills."

I'm sure that most of my colleagues would have given up on something as crazy as this by now, but I was hooked. The challenge of winning at the end as well as getting rid of Relena had caught me… at least that's what I had originally thought.

Solo took me back to my car at five and, before she left, I asked her, "Does Duo drink coffee?"

A small smirk graced her lips. "Only when he's breathing. He likes the triple chocolate, chocolate chunk latte with an extra shot of espresso and whipped cream from the Java Hut a little farther down the road." My stomach began to turn as she described his drink. How could anyone stand something so sweet?

I went back to my hotel room right away, not feeling like it was a good idea to go back inside the clinic. Instead, I just rested on the bed to go over everything that Solo had told me. This was going to last longer than a week or two, so I knew that Wufei's strategy was completely out of the question. I would have to come up with my own plan—and that actually frightened me. I was determined to see this through, but there was a little niggling at the back of my mind--which I refused to acknowledge--that told me that this would all end badly.

* * *

1. Can anyone guess who this author is?

2. Song by the Carpenters called "Mr. Guder"; also the title of the chapter.

I'm so sorry for the long wait! I meant to have this up ages ago!!! But I was the biggest procrastinator of the century and took forever to finish it… then I kept tweaking it and everything… but it's done now and I should have the next one up soon… maybe next week or so. I got a new laptop so I can now work on my stuff at my work when it's dead! Yay!

Anywhoo, thanks for the reviews and I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season!


	5. Trust Me

**Chapter Five**

Trust Me

_Notes:_ This is from Duo's POV, but I really pity you if you haven't figured out my pattern yet.

_Disclaimer: _Never owned any of these characters, except my view on Solo and the short view of Misty.

* * *

As soon as I stepped into my house, Solo's giant, black Newfoundland came bounding up to me and mouthed at my arm, pulling me into my kitchen. Solo was standing at the stove, peering at her gourmet macaroni and cheese like it was the bane of her existence. "You do know you have your own home, right?" I asked jokingly, prying my arm from Lord's mouth.

"It's too far away, and I didn't feel like driving there. Plus, I know you're itching to find out what I was doing with Heero. Well, let me tell you, he's a very tender ma--" I could have shot her right then, but I knew that she was joking, so I refrained.

"Can't you be a little more serious? This guy is probably nuts," I growled, and she just rolled her eyes at me and went back to poking the food.

"He actually isn't nuts… as far as I can tell. He just operates on a different playing field than the rest of us. I would describe him as intriguing… but not as complicated as he gives the first impression of being."

My mouth suddenly went dry. "You're defending him?"

Solo suddenly spun around to glare at me. "Why are you treating him like an escaped convict? He's done nothing to you--and he apparently likes you enough to want to stay in this relationship."

"And that's just it. I can't believe there's nothing; something's in this for him--" Solo wielded the giant spoon in my direction and started to poke it at me.

"Stop being so damn cynical all the time! Not everyone in the world is out to get you. Give him a chance to prove himself. He already knows he's got some work cut out for him and if that didn't scare him away, then I'm willing to let him have a few chances at bat. Remember, you didn't like Trowa at first, but you gave him a chance and he's like a brother to you. The same applies to Quatre, too." She took a breath and went back to stirring the food.

I waited in silence, digesting this information. "What gives you that idea that he's so nice?" I asked tenderly, not wanting to make her any madder.

"I just spent an hour analyzing him. He reminds me of an innocent little kid in some respects. Naïve and introverted."

I just grunted and started to pat Lord's huge head lightly. "I doubt he's very naïve if he's running a multi-billion dollar company."

Solo turned and gave me an exasperated look. "I was giving you an analogy." She finally started to spoon the goop into two bowls and set them in front of our seats. "Listen," she said, taking my hand off of Lord's head and holding it in hers.

"You know that I'm the poster child for independence, but… you've been single for so long that I just think that you really need to put yourself out there, and Heero's a great starting point. If you spend some time with him and find him completely repulsive, then go ahead and get a divorce--no damage done."

I just stared at her. It was true that Solo was usually the one who advocated being strong and independent, but if she was pushing him _this _desperately, she-- "You must have really liked him," I finally said.

"I think he's different. And you need that."

I just pursed my lips and frowned at her, then eventually nodded. When she smiled, her whole face lit up and I felt like I just given her the best Christmas present. I decided then and there that I'd give Heero about two weeks and then give him up; that would probably be the best amount of time.

Solo left Lord with me that night because she had to go to Laramie and she didn't like leaving him at home. I took my bath while he settled down by the tub and napped while I read; it was all very relaxing, and I forgot my troubles until the morning dawned.

I had just loaded Lord into the car and had almost gotten to the clinic when I saw three cars. I was sure that we hadn't had an appointment scheduled that early, but I hurried up and got out of my car quickly, toting Lord with me. Inside, I didn't find a client, but instead Heero sitting behind my counter with Quatre.

He was watching the computer intently and nodded as Quat gave him a quick overview of how it all worked. Lord bounded around the counter, eliciting an excited gasp from Quatre as the massive dog began to push at his arm with his nose. "…Morning," I muttered quietly. Both looked up at me; Quatre nodded while Heero rose to his feet and held something out for me to grab.

"Your sister mentioned that you like this stuff," he said directly, watching me carefully. I grinned at him, relieved. I'd been expecting something else, anything else, so the warm cup of coffee was a godsend.

"Thanks," I replied with a nod and took a sip, giving an appreciative "Mmmm."--for effect, of course.

Quatre chuckled slightly. "I can't see how you can stand to drink that stuff; it's too sweet, even for me."

I laughed, feeling awkward as I saw Heero go slowly back down to his seat out of the corner of my eye. Lord immediately turned his attention to Heero, hoping to have some attention paid to him since Quat had stopped rubbing his ears. I almost laughed when Heero awkwardly began to pet his head also, so instead I said, "Shut up and tell me what we have today."

"Ginger already brought in Smoky for his neuter and Finley is coming in later to talk to you because Greg thinks Fin ate an electrical plug or two. Plus, the Strampes are bringing in Jake to be euthanized." I frowned at the last one; Jake was a 14 year-old lab that I'd known since he was a puppy. Poor Kelly.

I nodded slowly and went to my office and started the day. I had multiple shots to do and a few walk-in clients; every time I went up to the front, Heero was doing something like cleaning or filing or filling out paperwork. One time I actually found him on the floor with Lord, playing with his paws. Heero would rub his neck, stop, and then Lord would press his paw against Heero's shoulder to make him rub him again. I knew the game well, and I also knew that it could go on for hours, but it really looked like Heero didn't mind.

Once I caught Quatre when he came to tell me there was a client in Room One. "What is Heero doing?"

Quatre shrugged. "He came in early this morning and sat and waited for you, but he finally got tired of sitting and asked if he could help me out at all. I had him do some quick filing for me, and then he just sat and started to watch me work with the computer. He catches on really quickly; I bet he could easily put me out of my job." I just laughed and squeezed his shoulder.

"No chance of that, don't worry."

Later on in the day, when Jake came in to be euthanized, Heero offered to help me because he could see that I was close to tears. Jake was one of the pets I was closest to, and I'd known Kelly from the orphanage, so it was almost like putting down one of my own pets.

I had him help me lift Jake to the table and hold the dog down while I injected him. Kelly stayed with us, petting and talking to the old guy until he was gone, and then she just sat and cried for a while. I nodded Heero out of the room and, from the doorway, I could see Quatre crying but thankfully Trowa was taking care of him.

I leaned against the wall that hid the surgery room and forced my tears back. It was hard, but I still had other clients to deal with and I didn't need them to worry about why I had red eyes. Heero stood in front of me resolutely and placed his warm hand on my shoulder. He didn't say anything at all and, in a weird way, I found it comforting that he wasn't trying to make me feel good or anything. I just swallowed and pulled away with the excuse of, "I need to tell Solo."

I hid in the break room where I could still see the surgery room so I could catch Kelly when she left and called Solo. She started crying right away, telling me to tell Kelly that she would come see her as soon as she was back.

When Kelly finally collected herself, I went to the front to help her fill out the cremation form because Quatre had disappeared into the back with Trowa for a second. Probably to play with Lucky, one of our two clinic cats; she was the one who actually enjoyed being picked on. I knew that Quat believed in the old adage about how petting cats makes you feel better, but he usually found bugging Lucky worked even better.

Heero didn't say anymore on the matter, for which I was eternally grateful. He mainly stayed out of the way but jumped up to help whenever needed. At the end of the day, he walked with me out to my car. "Sorry that you got put to work," I muttered lamely, feeling that I should at least say _something_. He had just spent the last eight hours or so working when he wasn't getting paid to.

"I didn't mind," he replied and then proceeded to stare at me. I kinda felt like I needed to say something, but I didn't have anything else to say. I'd already thanked him for the coffee and for the help-- "Would you like to have dinner with me?"

I really hadn't expected that from him. "Um…" I replied intelligently, but he quickly covered over his tracks.

"Not right now; I'm sure you're not in the mood for going out now… but sometime." I watched his almost anxious expression and remembered what Solo had said.

"Sure, sometime." His relieved smile sent a shiver down my spine, and I took that as a cue to get out of there. I quickly gave him a good-bye wave and took off. When I looked at Lord in the passenger seat, he was giving me a very baleful look. "Don't look at me like that. I did agree to try sometime… just not now." He apparently liked that answer and looked away.

The next day was just as hectic as the day before, but Heero once again showed up with coffee _and _a Danish and jumped in to help right away. Around lunch, I noticed that Quatre looked a little pale, so I sent him home and had Trowa man the front desk. Suddenly, the reception area was deathly quiet, and I had to go up there every so often to make sure they both weren't dead.

Once again that night, Heero walked me to my car and I thanked him for his help--this time he didn't spring dinner on me, thankfully.

On Friday morning, Quatre did the unspeakable. He got sick.

"I'm so sorry Duo, but I just can't get out of bed. Every time I move, the room decides to spin around my head." I assured him that it was okay and went into work early to open the clinic.

Heero was sitting in his car when I drove up. "What time do you wake up in the morning?" I asked exasperatedly. I had to drag myself out of bed just to get to work at eight; he didn't even work there and he was sitting outside--probably before even Quatre or Trowa got there.

"At six in the morning," he answered simply.

"Even on weekends?!" I returned, jaw dropping open. "That's sick." Heero just shrugged at me as I unlocked the door.

"Is Quatre off today?" Heero asked as he handed me my coffee.

My shoulders tensed and I shook my head. "No… he's sick." Suddenly, I rounded on Heero. "Listen, I really hate to ask this… but could you help me today? Trowa has a lot of kennels to clean today, and I need someone to take care of the computer and phones when I'm with a client." I internally winced at the words as they came out of my mouth.

"That's fine," Heero answered, moving to boot up the computer. I just stood there for a moment until I realized that I was standing in the doorway and Lord was butting me with his head because I was apparently in his way.

The second we were officially opened, Murphy's Law went into action. The phones rang off the hook; I had five emergencies and three euthanasias. The first time I was really able to sit down was when Trowa had left at six and had turned around the "Open" sign.

I groaned and hit my head against the counter tiredly, eliciting a slight chuckle from Heero. "Sorry about the crazy day. I'm willing to pay you if you want me to—"

Heero shook his head and said, "I don't want money… but I am very hungry."

I just stared at him, then laughed. "You're stubborn." He just shrugged. "Okay, fine. Help me with the end of the day closeout and we'll go to dinner."

Heero grinned slightly and turned to the cash drawer, but he suddenly stopped as he found himself face to face with a puffy white cat. "Hi, Fresca," I said lightly as she stretched her neck out and sniffed at him, causing him to lean away.

"It's missing a leg," Heero stammered as she stretched out her long body to put her one front paw on his shoulder and kept her back legs on the counter.

"Yeah, that's Fresca; she's been a clinic cat for close to seven years. She was born with a mangled leg and was one of my first surgeries. She's pretty grouchy usually--but when she wants attention, she lets us know." By now Fresca had claimed her place on Heero's lap and was staring at him intently, waiting to be petted.

"What do you mean by clinic cats?" he asked, trying to avoid her while taking the cash out of the drawer.

"We have two cats that have run of the clinic during the day. They usually keep the little kids occupied while their parents are busy. Lucky's a brat and Fresca's a grouch, so they fit well together." I chuckled as I watched Fresca pat at Heero's face with her paw.

We worked silently for a while after that. Usually, when I did the cash report and end of day reports, I made someone stay with me so I could talk to them—but, when working with Heero, it just seemed easier to work in silence. We finished about twenty minutes later, and I dragged him to my favorite Mexican restaurant. If I was going to have to eat dinner with him, I was going to choose the place… however, he didn't object.

It seemed that almost everyone I knew well from church and work had decided to eat there that night. We'd barely been seated when Iria made her way to chat with me and try to chat with Heero, who stayed very quiet. After her came some of the ladies from church who I knew well, and they decided it would be fun to interrupt dinner. Each time a new group would come over and would pester him with questions, Heero would answer politely and succinctly.

When we had a quick break and had ordered our food, I watched him over the rim of my kaluah and cream. He sat quietly with his back straight and eyes fixed, and suddenly I had to agree with Solo that he seemed like a little kid--sort of lost and all. It was kind of amusing, in a way…. but also strangely sweet. Maybe I could stay around him for a few more weeks; he _was_ different.

I decided to test him, though. "Do you go to Church?" I asked, making him jump slightly.

"Church? No."

I smiled. "I go every Saturday for the five p.m. Mass. Solo and I've gone every year since we started living here… well, in the beginning, we really didn't have a choice, but whatever. Since Solo's not going to be here, I'm probably going to be alone this time."

Heero watched me, almost like he was analyzing me; then he asked, "What do you wear to 'Church'?"

I shrugged and said, "I usually wear casual, but nice. We're not fancy." He just nodded in understanding and we dug into the food, which had just been put down in front of us.

By the end of dinner, I was in a very good mood. Even though our conversation wasn't deep, I still enjoyed his presence. He may have seemed like a jerk with a stick up his ass on the outside, but he was actually pretty cool in a way. Heero saw me off at my car, saying that he had some work he needed to do, so he might not be able to come to the clinic tomorrow.

I just laughed. "You don't have to come every day; plus, we're only open until twelve. Bye, and thanks for dinner." He just smiled at me and nodded awkwardly as I slid into my car and drove away.

At home, Solo had left five messages for me. Four were just reminders about taking care of Lord and myself, and the fifth was her railing me out for not telling her that I was going to dinner with Heero. I just ignored her and texted her saying that I'd call tomorrow before Church.

Right away I went into the bath, Lord taking up his usual spot with Shini sitting on top of the heater. When I was done, I ate and went to bed; for the first time in a long time, I went to sleep without any problems.

* * *

This is the end of Chapter Five! Yay! Hopefully this'll be okay. I don't have much faith in my sensibility because I had so much trouble opening a door! So yeah… anyway, not much else to say except please read and review and if you hate it please tell me, but just know I'll probably cry.


	6. Going Against The Grain

**Chapter Six**

_Going Against The Grain_

_Notes_: I'm so sorry that this took forever! But here is the latest chapter! Finally! Oh, yeah--Heero's POV.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own any of these people…. except Misty and some of the freaky animals.

* * *

I'd only been at the clinic a matter of a few hours since I'd gotten to Wyoming, but something seemed to draw me in. Even when I watched that woman's dog get put down, I didn't really know how to take it. So, I tried to stay as un-attached as possible--but watching Duo cry was even harder.

I tried to be as helpful to him as I could because I knew I couldn't afford to get kicked out of the clinic this early in the game. In the end, I tried to start something with him. I'd looked up dating hints online and most of them seemed idiotic to me because they really didn't pertain to Duo's personality. I was betting that treating him like a woman would piss him off--so flowers and poetry were out of the question (for which I was eternally thankful).

Immediately after asking him to dinner, I kept wishing I could take it back. He looked like a rabbit caught under the wolf's gaze. But then he agreed and I thought that maybe I still had the chance to win him over. My want to get rid of Relena was still in forefront of my mind but winning Duo was also starting to become a priority. He didn't seem that bad to have around, and he was actually surprisingly competent in most areas.

In only those few days I'd come to help, I'd quickly gotten used to Quatre's sunny personality. So when Duo sent him home and put Trowa in his place, it was a little strange--but I didn't despise him right away so that was a good sign. He didn't try to force any conversation or try to pry into my background. He worked diligently, answered the phones, and dealt with the customers in a stately manner that I admired and wished most of my own workers were able to achieve.

Every so often Duo would pop up front, looking at both of us suspiciously before slipping away, back to his domain. I didn't know if he didn't trust us or what, but it was very strange… even if Trowa didn't seem to notice.

On Friday, I didn't mind helping Duo out with the clinic--whatever got me brownie points. I could tell that it was very hard for him since I'd quickly found out he hated to ask for help, but I felt almost relieved that he actually trusted me enough to ask. Quatre had already shown me how to work the computer and close out, and I had never needed to be taught anything twice.

At the end of the day, I had never been so tired! I'd been in life altering business meetings that were less tiring than this. I knew that bringing up the subject of dinner would be a rushing Duo a little, but I had a little less than a week left before I had to go back to work.

His answer of "yes" hadn't been as surprising as the white fur ball I'd originally assumed to be dead staring me right in the face. The first time I'd seen 'Fresca,' I thought it had been one of Quatre's quirky decorations… but there it was, staring me in the face. Then I found out it had three legs and that was enough for me; the idea of the cat growing up like that slightly scared me just because I'd never thought anyone would be that willing to take care of something like her. Apparently I'd been wrong.

We worked in silence splitting up the totals to get things accomplished faster. My progress was greatly impeded by Fresca's unstoppable penchant to want to pat me with her one front paw. I didn't really mind it because soon I just began to tune her out like Duo did.

I'd never really enjoyed Mexican food, but if Duo liked it enough, though, I would be able to stand it. I was grateful that he'd let his guard down enough to buy an almost alcoholic drink, but it was easy to tell that he was still being careful around me. Apparently he could still remember what happened after all those drinks he had on our wedding night.

Our first date would have been wonderful—up until the point where all the old biddies from his church decided to join us, one different group after another cycling off of each other. When all the groups had exhausted themselves, I contented myself to listening to Duo's stories. One of the dating tips I'd gotten had really played to my advantage: 'Let her do all the talking but make sure you listen.' The first part was easy, but I had trained myself to the point of not listening to annoying business men that listening to Duo was hard at some points.

When the night was over, I went straight back to my hotel room and began the work that Wufei had emailed to me. I worked late into the night and finished around three. It wasn't very unnatural for me to be up working that late, but after the full day I'd already had, I felt drained and slept until close to ten.

I had already told Duo I probably wouldn't have been able to come in, but I'd been hoping that maybe I might have. The clinic had already been open for an hour and there were no surgeries on the books--so there truly was no point in going other than to see Duo, but I didn't know if that was too soon after our first date.

Instead, I busied myself with looking up on the internet how people at churches usually acted. I didn't learn much, but what I did, I committed to heart. I could very easily see the game that Duo was playing with me, and I was going to match him tit-for-tat. I was going to show him I was willing to stretch for him, and he was going to have to work harder than he was to beat me at the game completely.

When four o'clock rolled around, I dressed as casually as I could get. I didn't own very many casual things since my closet mainly consisted of business suits and Armani , and I really doubted that people in Dustin wore Armani to church--but it was really all I had left.

I quickly drove to the church expecting there to be tons of cars with people bustling to get in but there were barely any signs of life. I pulled one of the very large doors open to be immediately assaulted with the aroma of incense. The church was deathly silent and the people inside were kneeling reverently, heads bowed and mouths moving in silent prayer.

For a few moments, I hovered in the entrance way next to a stone fountain with water pouring down into a sunken in basin. It was beautiful and, sadly, the only real sound I could hear. It took me a while to actually realize that there was someone standing at my elbow.

I jumped slightly when I found an older man next to me, smiling slightly. "Good evening; I'm Father Maxwell."

"You know I'm new," I stated and he nodded.

"I've been here for years. I baptized Duo years ago, and I know most of the parishioners very well." He took my hand and gave it a strong squeeze.

It was easy to tell he knew of my connection with Duo, but I didn't say it out loud since he wasn't, either. "I've never been to church before. Is it usually this empty?"

He just chuckled and somehow I could see a bit of Duo in him. "People don't show up until the last five minutes before Mass starts; Sister Helen liked to call them 'Five Minute Catholics.' It's just the way they are." He pointed to a spot near the organ and said, "Duo usually sits over there if you want to wait for him."

I quickly shook my head and murmured, "No… um… I'll wait for him outside." I don't know why, but I just felt so uncomfortable in there alone, especially with the watchful eye of Father Maxwell on me.

He just nodded and I quick-stepped out of the church to sit on one of the benches near the front doors under a silver sculpted flame bolted to the brick. After about 20 minutes, parishioners began to walk by me, often giving me a smile or nod but never saying anything. I didn't like the attention and quickly diverted my own attention to my Blackberry, texting Wufei even though he was in a prickly mood.

Finally, a shadow covered me and I looked up to find Duo standing before me. No longer dressed in his usual smock, he looked very appealing in a black T-shirt and nice jeans with his hair pulled into his usual sleek braid. "You actually came," he said, sounding thoroughly impressed.

"You had doubts?" I asked, pocketing my Blackberry and getting up.

"Frankly? Yes. C'mon. I need to see what Marlys has in store for me." He chuckled and nodded for me to follow him inside. We skirted around the edges of the church, and I settled in the pew next to Duo while he chatted with the organist.

He seemed so at ease (not that he wasn't back at his clinic), but amongst the people of the church, he seemed to thrive. Once he'd set up the song list, he knelt to pray and I watched him clutch a silver crucifix in his hand, his mouth moving in the same silent prayer as everyone else.

Church started a few minutes after five when Duo stood up to announce the first song; then he began to sing… and I was speechless. I could hear him amongst everyone else, singing with a smooth voice that seemed to ripple. I wasn't a man who was impressed easily, but I was impressed right then.

For the next 45 minutes I sat, as quietly as I could, watching Father Maxwell give his homily and go through the rest of the motions. His talk was about marriage and love and how he didn't see gay union as anything bad; he just refused to call it marriage and then told the parish to look up the definition of marriage. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Duo flinch slightly, but I didn't ask him about it.

The people of the parish would all stand, sit, and kneel together, all without being told. Duo called it "Catholic Calisthenics." When we were told to "Share the sign of peace," Duo turned to me and gave me a mega-watt smile and said "Peace be with you." Then he took my hand in his and gave it a firm shake… it took me a few moments to actually let go and move on to the next person to give them a stately shake. I didn't say anything, just nodded; it seemed like the safest bet because I felt like any second now I was going to be struck with lightning because of the thoughts that had crossed my mind when Duo had smiled at me like that.

Right after that, everything seemed to speed up. Duo went up with the rest of the church to 'receive the host,' as he said, and then sang two more songs--and then we were done. "Wait a bit. I hate trying to escape the parking lot when everyone else is," Duo told me. I just nodded and sat back to stare up at the hand-carved crucifix on the wall.

Suddenly, he pointed out of one of the non-stained glass windows to a small, rundown-looking building. "You see that building out there? That used to be the orphanage that housed exactly 25 kids. The parish tried so hard to raise enough money to keep it open, but the orphanage failed and 23 of the kids were sent to an orphanage in Cheyenne--but one boy and the girl who'd adopted him as her brother were kept and raised by Father Maxwell and Sister Helen."

"You and Solo."

Duo just nodded. "I have no idea why they worked so hard to keep us, but they did so. In return, Solo and I did whatever we could to be as perfect as possible. Most people saw me as 'Little Duo' for years, so when it was found out that I was gay, they didn't say much. It was always that dirty little secret left on the back burner. I've worked so hard to keep up my relationship with everyone here so that they don't just see my orientation and not me."

"Is that why you're afraid?" I asked, turning to watch him.

Quickly, Duo turned to glare at me. "I'm not scared." I didn't reply, and he didn't push it any further. "You know, having Father say what he did about gay union was a pretty controversial thing to say. I know he's always been the one telling me that being gay isn't bad, but I just feel like if I allow myself to love another guy I'll disappoint the people here who took such good care of me and my sister."

I just stared at Duo, unable to believe what he was saying. I seized Duo's arms and said, "There is nothing wrong with being you; if these people really love you like the priest does, then they won't be upset." When Duo quickly turned to look up at me, I let go out of reflex and stared out the windows. "And, frankly, if you weren't you, I don't know if I'd like you as much."

Duo kept on staring at me and finally smiled. "You know, I think you almost sincerely complimented me." When I didn't reply, he just gave a low whistle and leaned back against the pew, crossing his arms behind his head. "I'm impressed. Keep this up, Yuy, and you might just be able to win me over." I knew he had to be joking, but his words gave me a very childish glimmer of hope.

After a few more minutes, he turned off the lights and I walked him to his car, which thankfully looked a lot safer that Solo's junky truck. "I'll see you on Monday then?" Duo asked after unlocking his car.

I stalled for a moment then nodded. "Yes, of course. Coffee in hand." He just smiled and seemed to lose momentum. For a few very radical moments, I thought he was going to kiss me, like you see in the movies, but then he just ducked his head and said,

"Try smiling once in a while. You actually look human when you do." After that, he gave me a little half-wave, slipped into his car, and was gone. I just stood there for a while, thinking. Maybe really having him around wouldn't be _that_ bad.

* * *

Yay! I'm finally done! Hah! Yeah, we're getting to the end of Heero's visit… sad.

I just feel like I'm completely rambling… but I do have my ending… it's just the problem of actually getting there.

I was going to wait until I was up to 70 reviews because I seem to like things grouped in 10's but I finished the chapter and my amazing Beta-Reader finished beta-ing so fast that I was so excited to get it put up.

So, here we go, Chapter Seven should being coming around the mountain soon.


	7. Near You Always

**Chapter Seven  
**Near You Always

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the Gundam characters… even Solo really. Everyone else is registered under my name.

**POV:** Duo

* * *

"Hey, Heero. Can you put 100mg of Deramax on Mr. Sell's account for two times a day until gone? Thanks." I said as I handed Heero the file over the top of his shoulder. He just grunted and deftly went into Mr. Sell's account and began drawing everything up.

Mr. Sell was the last one of the day thankfully. It had been one of the slowest days I'd witnessed in years. I'd had to send Quatre and Trowa home since Heero had taken over the computer. Not that Quatre really minded, it gave him more time to hang around with Trowa.

The second Mr. Sell was out of the clinic I turned around the open sign and sighed as I flopped across the front counter. "Where's Lucky?" I groaned, I hated putting the cats up. Fresca had, thankfully, settled herself on Heero's lap so I decided it was best to let him deal with her. I found it kinda funny that she'd become so attached to him. When he left she would hop along after him and meow until he picked her up or she'd make sure she was the first to claim his lap in the mornings.

"Last time I saw her she was wedged between the Autoclave and the wall." Heero grunted and went back to counting out the drawer. I moved doggedly to the back where, sure enough, that little bundle of annoyance was curled up in the 6-inch wide space between the Autoclave and wall looking thoroughly satisfied. Too bad I had to ruin her fun. She yowled at me as I picked her up and just mimicked her. We all knew she was grouchy and vocal and no one cared anymore.

When I came back to the front Heero was just finishing up. "So, how'd we do?" I asked, leaning against the back of his chair. Fresca just glared up at me and snuggled farther into Heero's lap.

"Close to 1000."

"God! I am so glad that tomorrow's Saturday! Half day baby!" I cheered but stopped when Heero turned the chair around to face me, looking very serious. "What?"

"I have to go back to New York tomorrow."

"Oh…" Of course, I knew he had to go back, he had a great job there. But over the past two weeks I'd gotten so used to having him around that the thought of him going sort of upset me…

"I'd like to come back." What? I just stared at him for a moment. "It won't be for a few months because I have a some big meetings to work through but when I am able to I'd like to come back here. Can I?"

I moved so I was resting against the lower counter, watching him in surprise, a small fluttering filled my stomach. "Of course." I said, trying to keep my voice steady.

The tiniest glimmer of a smile crossed his lips but was replaced as he stood up, gathering Fresca into his arms. She didn't even meow like she usually did when people picked her up so that said what she thought of him. When he returned from putting up Fresca I was in my coat and ready to go out the door.

I was trying to not think about him going so I put on a cheerful expression. The optimist in me said he was going to keep in contact but the realist and pessimist in me said that he was going to go back to New York, serve me the papers, and laugh with his high class buddies about the gullible small town vet whose heart he played around with.

Then I mentally hit myself because I felt like such an idiot. I was the one who hadn't wanted to have anything to do with him and now I was upset because he was going to go back to New York. Maybe it was better if he left and served me the papers, then I'd be safer. "Do you want me to drop you off at the airport or something?" I asked cheerfully.

Heero fixed me with one of his most intense gazes and shook his head. "My flight is for 5 a.m. I know you'd hate to be up that early." He had a point there. But I felt weird not seeing him off.

"Oh… well then. I guess I'll say bye now." I said as I held open the door for him and showed him out. Heero and I stood awkwardly in the doorway, not knowing what to do. Finally he spoke up.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Letting me in." I just smiled at him and suddenly the words were pouring out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"You know, the hotels around here probably aren't the best and I'm sure you're tired of fast food and creaky beds and all… when you come back you could stay with me if you wanted to. I have an extra bed and…"

"Yes." He said quickly, stopping my ramble. It took a second for me to find my voice, so, instead I just settled to smile at him and nod.

"Okay then. I'll talk to you later then." I said, my hands shaking ever so slightly. "Have a good flight."

As I turned to leave Heero grasped my hand and stopped me and pulled me back to him. In the breath of a second lips brushed against my cheek and then he was gone. I would have called the moment cheesy if I hadn't been blushing all the way to the roots of my hair. Glancing over at his car I watched him turn on the sleek machine and pull out of the parking lot.

That night when I went home I ate quickly and hid in the bathroom, scrubbing my face hard and ignoring Shini scratching at my door until Solo called me to chat like she usually did. When I told her that Heero had vamoosed and what I'd offered him, she just chuckled, "That's so sweet. It's like high school all over again. Are you waiting for him to ask you to prom?"

I just decided to ignore that little quip and ask, "Do you think he'll come back?"

"You remember that rhyme? 'Leave them alone and they'll come home wagging their tails behind them'? Yeah, don't listen to that. Ignoring him is not the key here. You need to show him that you're interested in him coming back." She said.

"But I've already told him that that would be nice."

"But you need to reassure him. He's insecure."

"Insecure? He seems pretty sure of himself to me."

Solo sighed dramatically, "Sure, in the office, doing major business and crap like that. But when it comes to romance he's worse that you in terms of being unsure of what to do. You're going to have to call him and show him you're interested without throwing yourself at him."

"Where the hell do you get all this crap?" I asked exasperatedly, trying to dry my hair a little more before I re-braided it before bed.

"Well, those crappy magazines that I pick up at the stand at Smith's and I there's also that little fact that I'm a girl. Romance tips seem to be built into our system." I just laughed and fell into a simple conversation with her, but her words seemed to be revolving around in my mind.

The next morning I was up and at work and immediately after getting out of my car it felt strange because Heero wasn't there, waiting with my coffee. I couldn't believe how used to him I had become and it just… made me feel almost pathetic.

Quatre greeted me cheerfully, glancing over my shoulder for Heero. When my usual shadow didn't appear Quatre seemed to deflate just a little. "He needed to head back to his home." I said, heading back to my office and mentally preparing myself for the day. It was supposed to be hectic and that was what I needed right then.

When 12:00 rolled around Quatre hustled me out of the clinic so he and Trowa could count up the drawer and go to lunch. I didn't really mind being pushed out because they were cute together and it was good to see that they were realizing what everyone else has known for years.

So I went home and Shinigami barely raised her head to look at me when I came in the door. "Fine, I see where I stand." I muttered and went into the kitchen. Like I usually did I set my cell phone on the counter and went about my business. I made lunch and when I'd eaten I started to clean since it was too early for my bath

In my cleanings I found Heero's business card and stared at it for a moment before setting it down next to my phone and going on my way. Solo and Lord barged into my home not long afterwards. They seemed to be entertained by my cleaning antics and took a place at the counter.

Every so often Solo would make a little quip that would cause my gaze to go to her and then to my phone, just because she was right next to it. At least that's what I told myself. Solo didn't seem so convinced.

"Okay, you're starting to make me paranoid. What is it?" She demanded.

I grumbled under my voice and moved over to the counter and tapped the business card. "I don't know what to do."

"Don't know how to do what? Call him? It's easy, just pick up the phone and dial the cell number on there-"

"No, I mean I don't know why I should call him."

Solo shrugged. "To talk maybe?" She made it sound so simple.

"And what would I say?"

"Ask him how his flight is. Hopefully it should go from there."

"Hopefully?" I felt idiotic asking Solo what to do but she had gone on more dates and been out with more guys than I ever had been so she was the most reliable source.

"Yeah. Just a word of advice; it's a little odd for a person to put their cell phone number on a business card so he probably won't answer an unknown number… so maybe you should call the other number and try to get a hold of him or just leave a message."

I watched my sister for a while then nodded and went back to my cleaning. It only took 20 more minutes for her to fold and yell, "Okay! Your pacing is driving me nuts. I am going home. Tell me how your talk goes tomorrow, we have youth mass."

"Yeah, I know." I groaned, mentally cursing our youth minister and his sporadic mass assignments. Solo and Lord were gone a few moments later and I was left woefully alone with my phone and my lazy cat.

I paced around my house, going into each room and out of them until I finally reached my room and flopped on my bed. On the bedside table I glanced at the ring and finally picked it up. I twiddled it around my finger a few times and with a very big and dramatic sigh got up and went to my kitchen.

It was about three by now… so that meant five in New York. He had to be in now if he left at five… so calling had to be safe enough…

By now Shini had moved to the counter and watched as I sat in one of the bar stools and stared at the phone before picking up the card and dialing in the cell phone number. Almost immediately I got his voice mail and hung up. Shini's eyes narrowed and I glared back. "Yes, I know I could have left a message but I chickened out okay?" Her eyes squeezed shut and then opened against, trained only on me.

"Okay, I'll try again! Geesh!" I groaned and, with shaky hands, started to the business number. After the first ring I got the secretary who announced the name of the company in a very annoying nasal voice.

"How can I help you?"

"I, um, I need to speak with Heero Yuy."

"Alright, I'll connect you." In a second cheesy elevator music played over the line until a sharp voice barked,

"Heero Yuy's office. This is Chang Wufei speaking. What can I do for you?"

I paused for a moment before going on, "I wanted to talk to Heero."

"Who's calling?"

"M-my name's Duo Maxwell." I was about ready to hang up the phone but I knew I was already to far gone.

"Let me put you on hold for a second." The music began to play again and I just about hit the end call button when Heero's voice come on the line.

"Duo?"

"Hey man." I greeted, trying to keep calm. "How was your trip?"

* * *

So, I know this was a little fast and unedited but I really wanted to get it up! I had nothing else to do being stuck in a hotel forever! I've only gone to one day of school this whole week and yet I'm still put down for being at school the whole time. I love life.

Anyway, here it is. It's a little rushed but I have the next three chapters written out and I'm so excited to get them up!


	8. Light On

**Chapter Eight  
**Light On

Notes: None that I can remember...

Disclaimer: I don't own any of this except my take on Solo, the town, and some of the people that inhabit it. I don't make any monetary gain from this.

POV: Heero

* * *

When I got out of the airport the thick, murky air hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd gotten so used to the crisp air of Wyoming that New York's air was a severe change. I hurried to my car and once the door was securely shut I got a hold of Wufei. "I'm back."

"Good, I just got off the phone with Quebec." He replied quickly, sounding hurried.

"What's the prognosis?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"If the project goes the way it is we could retire for the rest of our lives." A small smile crossed my lips and I went straight to the office, not even stopping at my apartment.

Wufei met me at my office and I quickly got on the phone and called up the Quebec group we were trying to draw up a contract with. After close to an hour of deal negotiations the contract was sealed and Wufei was ready to pull out the champagne.

We were both in high spirits as I started to unload all my work from my briefcase. Wufei shuffled through the papers slowly, making sure everything was in order until he stopped and held up the picture of Duo and the huge dog which I had found out was Solo's dog, Lord. Why he was named that I still hadn't figured out. "So, this is him?"

I ignored the buzzing in my pocket from my cell phone and just nodded, remembering that I'd stuck it in there for safekeeping. For a while there I'd forgotten that I'd taken it from Duo. Quickly I glanced at the number on the screen and put the phone away, pushing it to the back of my mind since it wasn't one of my client's numbers.

With careful movement I grabbed the picture from him and called my secretary and stepped out of my office to place the photo on her desk. She finished with the call she 'd just transferred and looked down at the photo placidly, "Can you go to Brentano's and pick up a nice frame for this? Probably silver and simple, and get it to me before 7?"

The girl smiled up at me placidly, "Of course Mr. Yuy." Then she jumped to her feet and grabbed her coat and was out the door. Almost immediately another girl came out of nowhere and replaced her, giving me the exact same placid smile.

I just nodded at her and hustled back into my office. Inside Wufei was holding out my phone to me. "Duo would like to speak to you."

"Duo?" I asked, taking a second to register that sentence in my mind.

He just nodded and pushed the phone into my hands. "Duo?" I asked again, feeling slightly out of breath.

"Hey man. How was your trip?" I sat for a moment, feeling suddenly off center. "Did I call at a bad time? I tried your cell but you didn't answer-"

When I realized where this conversation was going I cut in, "No, it's perfectly fine." I was actually elated that he'd taken the time to call. That had to be a good sign. "I'll save your number in my cell and you can call there. It's easier than going through my secretary."

Duo chuckled, "Thanks. So, was your trip good?" We chatted for at least thirty minutes until Wufei, who'd disappeared earlier, came in and knocked on my door, pointing at his watch. His way of telling me he was heading home. I just waved him goodbye and went back to listening to Duo tell me about his day and how crazy it had been.

"So, do you have an idea when you might be coming back?" Duo finally asked.

My voice caught in my throat but I was proud to say that I managed out, "I don't really know. Why?"

Duo seemed to get quieter as he muttered, "Well, Fresca misses you and she went around all day today yowling for you."

"I'll try to come back soon then."

Duo suddenly got louder again. "Not that it's really major. Just whenever work if you really want to come back."

"I do." I replied stoutly.

"Okay." Duo whispered, then he got louder. "Okay… So, you should get back to work or actually, you should head home. It's almost 6 there. You just got off the plane and you're at work now. You need to slow down a little."

I just smiled, "I'm used to it by now." There was a small knock at my door and when I looked up my first secretary was in the window, holding a sweet little bag in her hand. I waved her in as Duo went on,

"Well, can you try not to run yourself into the ground then? I don't think Fresca'll be too happy with a skeleton's lap to sit on." My secretary handed me the bag and stood back, waiting for my approval. I pulled out the fame and gave her a small smile, accompanied with a nod and she left my office beaming like the sun.

The frame was perfect. It was silver with little leaves resting along one corner and a small violet flower in the middle. I smiled as I leaned forward and placed the frame right next to my desk and moved back in my chair. "Heero?" Duo asked.

"I'll try not to. Have a good night Duo. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

I could almost imagine the smile on his face and he wished me a good night and hung up. If I had witnessed this phone call two weeks ago I would have found it sappy and horrific. I'm a businessman, one of the elite. I wasn't supposed to smile like that after one simple conversation. But I couldn't help the warm feeling I had in my gut.

I shut down my computer, left my briefcase by my desk and left, telling first secretary who had replaced her replacement to go home and got in my car and drove back to my apartment. I took an amazing shower and sat on my couch. I would have been lying if I said that I didn't feel awkward watching TV instead of working but for the first time in my life I didn't have the initiative to work.

On Monday morning I woke up feeling off kilter. It was a very odd moment and I kept feeling like I should go and get Duo's coffee but all the coffee places I went to here didn't serve the doctored stuff that Duo loved.

I dressed, took my shower, and went through my morning emails like I always did but it still felt odd to me. It amazed me how two weeks in Dustin had changed so much. I tried to push that to the back of my mind and focus on work but it was hard.

At the office my first secretary greeted me pleasantly and I just nodded at her as I started to my office. "Um, Mr. Yuy?" I turned to her. "Miss Peacecraft is waiting for you. She told me she had some very important business to speak to you about."

I felt the color drain from my cheeks as I went into my office, hoping that the girl had been joking. She hadn't been, damnit. Relena was sitting on the edge of my desk, holding Duo's picture in her hands, scrutinizing it carefully. "Is this him?" She asked, looking up at me with wide eyes. I just nodded and yanked the picture from her, placing it tenderly on my desk again. "What's so special about him? He looks like ten-cents a dance." She muttered and in a flash I'd turned to her, hand ready to strike.

The expression on her face surprised me. It was one of complete and total fear. Slowly I lowered my hand. What was Duo doing to me? I'd never gotten that mad over a small comment like that ever and I'd heard her make plenty in our time together. "Relena, what did you need to speak to me about?" I ground out through my teeth.

"Nothing. I just wanted to see how your trip was." She glanced quickly at my ring finger, which still held the wedding ring then back up at me.

"It was perfectly fine. If you don't mind I have work to tend to."

Relena straightened her business jacket and stuck her nose into the air. "Fine. I was only trying to be friendly. I'll speak to you again later." Then with a dramatic sniff she disappeared out the door.

I set down at my desk and picked up Duo's picture, checking to make sure Relena hadn't tampered with it. It seemed so strange to have such a colorful thing in my stark office but I wasn't planning on getting rid of it any time soon.

"How far are you planning on taking this?" Wufei asked from above me. I growled just slightly at him, not liking that he'd been able to sneak in without me noticing like usual.

"Should I just replace my door with one of the spinning ones at the Plaza?" I asked sarcastically. "That way you could still come in without knocking but there'd be a bell I could hear instead."

He ignored that little jibe. "How far are you planning on taking this whole plan?"

"What plan?" I asked sourly, turning to my computer.

"The plan to, what was it? Oh yes, woo, Mr. Maxwell here."

"What are you talking about?" I growled.

Wufei made a small choking noise and bent over the front of my desk. "You're not _falling_ for him are you?"

I looked up sharply, "Of course I'm not." Though those words did hurt coming out but I didn't take them back. "I just think it would be good if I make the show as plausible as possible, Relena may be feather brained at some times but she's still sharp and she'll notice any small mistake in this plan."

"I thought so." Wufei muttered darkly, standing up. "Just remember, he is a commodity, something to be used until he's no longer needed, don't get to attached. Once we are sure that Relena has moved on I expect you to forget him. We don't need him ruining your work ethic." I just looked out the window and waited for Wufei to leave before turning to my computer and starting on my work.

What was I going to do? I couldn't leave Duo behind… I was sure of that by now. But Wufei was my partner in work and that had always been more important to me more than anything. How could two weeks have changed so much?

By eight I finished catching up on everything and started to clean up. Wufei stood in my doorway, watching me like a hawk. "Done all ready? You usually go home around ten."

"I'm still on Wyoming time. I'm used to leaving the clinic about this time. Give me a week and I'll be back on track." He just grunted. "I'm going to be going back to Wyoming for about three weeks between January and February. Make sure not to schedule any important meetings that you can't handle yourself on those days." He grunted again and let me move past him without a second glance.

At my apartment I pulled out my phone and pressed 2, the number I'd put for Duo on speed dial and waited patiently. It rang at least five times and I started to worry that I was going to get an answering machine but on the seventh ring a breathless Duo answered, "Hello?" He puffed.

"Were you busy?" I asked, chuckling slightly. He grumbled something under his breath, "What was that?"

"I didn't want you hang up. I didn't know if you were one of those people who hates leaving messages and I was just walking in the door so I had to sprint to get my phone."

"But I called your cellphone."

"I left it behind today by accident."

I rolled my eyes, "The point of a cell phone is to keep it on you so people can reach you when you're not home." I could almost hear him roll eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. I won't do it again mom." We laughed for a moment, well, he laughed and I just smiled. But it was good enough.

"Are you doing anything important in January and February?" I asked finally.

"Not as far as I know. I have to go to this vet conference in Colorado but that's in March I think. Why?"

I slowly maneuvered myself into a chair and reclined back. "That's about the time I'll be able to come back."

"Fresca has to wait three months! That's not fair. She was screaming around the clinic this morning. _Trowa_ actually got tired of her and stuck her in the back." He moaned.

"You want me back earlier?"

There was a slight pause… "Well, I was kinda hoping you could come back for Christmas or something… You said you didn't have family in New York so I was thinking you could come and spend it with me and Solo and the rest of the crew. We usually have a nice Christmas bash at the clinic and yeah…"

"I'd love to. I'm sure I could wrangle something. Big businesses don't usually do work around that time anyway."

"Great!" Duo cheered, his mood suddenly rallying. "That only makes it two months."

I just laughed and asked him about his day and he was gone, telling me about all the hybrid dogs that had come in that day and a man who'd wanted to breed a toy poodle and a Labrador. Apparently the toy poodle had been the male. I sort of focused on what he was saying but mainly I reveled in the fact that he wanted me back. He wanted me back for Christmas!

[xXx]

The next couple months passed doggedly. I hated how time seemed to slow. Work no longer satisfied me and I hated waiting for the evenings when Duo and I would chat. Wufei had begun to notice my lack of interest and made sure to comment on it every day, reminding me that Duo was disposable. I never wavered from my usual reply but at the end of the day I wanted to shoot him.

Snow began to clog the streets of New York and my appointed travel date drew closer. Finally the day came and I was already packed and getting in my car when Wufei called me. "I need you to come in today."

"I'm leaving. You knew that."

"It doesn't matter. There's a problem with Brazil."

I couldn't fathom why Wufei had decided to call me with a problem over Brazil's contract. I wasn't even working on it. "It is your problem Chang. I expect you to deal with it."

He didn't reply for a moment, stewing quietly. I hated leaving on sour terms but Wufei was a tough kid, he could manage on his own because with this snow this would probably be the only flight I'd be able to catch out of New York. "Heero. I wisely advise you to carefully choose your next move because the wrong one and there'll be dire consequences."

A Duo-like response came into my mind but I held it back. Instead I said, "Handle the contract and close it up. I'll call you later for the details and then I hung up. Hurrying to get to the airport, desperate to not miss my plane.

* * *

I know this'll probably seem rushed but I feel like I'm dragging this on too much. I have this little list I plan my stories by anyway…

I advise you enjoy these next for chapters, which will go by quickly because right after that everything will go to Hell.


	9. Winter Song

**Chapter Nine  
**_Winter Song_****

_Notes:_Ba hah! A nice long chapter in honor of my 99 reviews! I would have waited until 100 but I felt really bad taking this long to update after that little note I left you guys last chapter.

_Disclaimer:_Just like all the others. I don't own this, I do it for fun… blah de blah.

_POV:_ Duo

* * *

I'd never known November to pass so slowly! Thanksgiving was busy like always but really, it felt like in the course of one month I'd aged twenty years. Solo would always smirk when she saw me in the mornings but never said anything. Everyone knew what I was waiting for but were merciful enough not to say anything.

Heero said he was supposed to catch the plane here on December 20th and leave January 3rd. I tried to get him to come earlier and stay longer, using the excuse, "Travel will be horrible for the holidays!" But no! Of course that didn't work. He was a corporate flyer so stuff like overcrowding of coach was beyond him.

I often felt like an idiot as I waited for him to come back. Only a few months ago I'd wanted him gone as quickly as possible. Now I wanted him back for longer! When had I gotten so fickle? Quatre had been the first to tell me the logical explanation, that I loved him. But that was ridiculous! I hardly even knew him. I didn't except it but I had to agree, sitting by the phone every night at 6:30 to either call him or have him call me said something. But… was it love?

So, I didn't love him per-se. But maybe I liked him in some random, off center way. But it would take a thousand mustangs and that lady from Misery to drag it out of me.

Heero had said that he would be getting into the airport around 5 so he'd just drive straight to the clinic. I'd kinda wanted to pick him up but that day was pretty booked and he liked having his own car to drive. So, I guess there was logic somewhere around there.

I'd been so nervous about letting him stay in my guest bedroom that I actually made an effort to make it seem friendly or like someone had actually been in there before. Solo just laughed and made a quip like, "You two are married, shouldn't you let him sleep in your bed with you?" I just kicked her out but she was easy to get rid of because she was roaring with laughter at the ferocious blush on my face.

But… that led me to actually sit down and look at that ring. A ring didn't mean a happy marriage or anything but it meant a promise… even if ours had been drunk. His constant pursuit of me led me to believe that he actually did want me around. Not a one night lay like I'd originally assumed. I couldn't believe how quickly I'd caved for him. I used to be the most cynical person around and now, after a few romantic words and a kiss on the cheek I'd turned to mush. Maybe Solo was right, I'd been alone so long that my heart was willing for any sort of human contact even if my head said I was happy in my Unabomber ways.

I spun the ring in my fingers, trying it on my hand. I'd never been one for rings so after a time of careful deliberation I found a fine silver chain and hung the ring from around my neck.

On the 20th I was on pins and needles. I almost hurt my neck from craning it around to look out the window whenever a car pulled up. When the appointments began to come rolling in non-stop Heero was pushed from my mind and I dealt with work until close to closing when I was actually able to sit down.

Less than 10 minutes after I'd closed my eyes for a quick nap two hands descended on my shoulders, causing me to jump sky high. Heero just chuckled, "Good to see you too." I forced down my blush and whapped him playfully over the top of the head and grumbled a few choice words that caused him to laugh again.

Silence reigned for a few more moments. "Long day I'm guessing?" Heero asked, looking enviably sexy… even after just getting off of a plane.

"Very. But I'm done with my appointments I think… there's only twenty minutes left so I doubt Quatre will count me truant for skipping out early." Heero just chuckled and stepped aside, only getting in my way slightly so I had to brush against him. Suddenly I felt like a school kid, getting flustered by a simple touch and quickened my pace to grab my coat.

I waved to Quatre as I left and he just grinned cheekily up at me. That little brat.

I instructed Heero to follow me home and he just smirked and I knew that he had a smart-ass reply all ready to go. So, in order to save my sanity I cut him off and slipped into my car and pulled out of the clinic's horrible driveway. There's this crappy hill that I always slide down because my car sucks, especially in the wintertime, and I sometimes haven't been able to stop at the bottom.

You see, winter in Wyoming is one of the crappiest times in the year… especially since it often lasts from October to mid-may… I'm not even joking you. It's cold and windier than usual and the snow is dry and it blows up into drifts and driving on the highway gets even more treacherous than usual.

But there's always a nice side to it to. When the wind isn't blowing the sky often turns this dazzling shade of blue and the snow sparkles on the mountains. I may gripe about my town constantly but I'd have a hard time leaving it… I just know I would. That's why I've never really tried.

I opened both garage doors for Heero's car and mine and parked first, making sure there was enough room for his obscenely expensive looking car. He got out after me and took a suitcase and a duffle bag from his car and that was it. It's amazing how that man can travel so lightly!

I didn't say anything to him; I just nodded for him to follow me into the house. Almost immediately after he closed the door from the wind I began babbling. I didn't know what else to do really, so I just starting talking, telling him random things about the kitchen and the living room and all the other rooms. Heero just nodded and followed me upstairs, not letting me take his bags from him.

The guest bedroom was right down the hall from mine with only the guest bath and the laundry room separating them. He moved to the bed and set down the bags and sat with his legs crossed languidly, looking around the room appreciatively.

Seeing him in my home was driving me wild and knowing that this sex-god of a man was only a matter of two rooms away wasn't helping matters any. "Do you want to see the tree?" I choked out finally and he just looked at me and nodded with the tiniest of smiles on his lips.

I led him down the steps and to my atrium-like room. Solo calls it the awkward room because it's off to the side and it doesn't look like the rest of the house and it has huge windows and smaller windows on the room. Usually, during the summer I nap on the couches in there but during the winter it became my reading room.

The tree is in the corner, well away from the fireplace with a large rug between the both of them. The needles are hell to get rid of after Christmas but the look of them during the holiday is just that nice that I don't really mind. The tree was decorated, per Solo's urging. We usually did that on Christmas Eve, just before Midnight Mass at the church but since I was going to have Heero around she wanted to 'give us our privacy'. Thanks sis....

"I've never had a Christmas tree." Heero said at my elbow causing me to jump because I hadn't realized that he was that close.

"Never?" I asked, getting over my initial shock.

He shook his head and moved forward to touch one of the boughs. "Never celebrated Christmas. Against my family's religion at first and when I got out I've never had the time."

I wanted to say something sappy but refrained and just sat on my couch to watch him. He looked happy and almost child-like as he examined Solo's old hand-made Christmas ornaments and mine. Most of them had the both of us as children in picture frames as children but others were ones I'd collected over the years. I found myself watching him more than focusing on anything else until I realized that he was smirking at me and I jumped up.

"So… I don't feel like cooking. How to feel about Chinese?"

Heero grinned and nodded, and I was sure he was holding back some sarcastic comment but before he could say it I hurried to the phone and dialed the Wonderful House and ordered whatever I thought he'd like. When I came back to the Christmas Tree room Heero was lounging in the spot I'd just left, his eyes staring right at the door. "So, you ready for work tomorrow?" I asked standing in the safe area, five feet away from him.

"I'm barely here a matter of a few hours and you already have me working?" Heero asked, smirking slightly.

"You gotta work if you're going to stay here." I shot back, leaning against the frame of the door. We fell into our usual banter and it felt nice having only five feet between us, and not a few thousand miles.

When the Chinese arrived I set everything out on the table, which felt odd since I didn't ever eat there. "How about we eat in the tree room?" I suggested, gathering everything back up. Heero just gave me a questioning look and followed me to the room.

We settled down on the couch with the food set on the coffee table. I sat on one end of the couch while he took the other. Everything became very quiet. I would sneak a glance at him out of the corner of my eye, wondering what he thought of my house and the food and everything else. It wasn't really up to New York standards, not that I would really know. I've never been east of the Mississippi.

Finally Heero must have gotten tired of catching my glances and decided to break the silence. "What did you get?"

"Sweet and Sour chicken." I answered immediately since it was my usual meal. "Janie owns the Wonderful House and she knows I like this so she makes the sauce really sour."

"Why?" Heero asked in disbelief.

"I like a challenge and forcing myself to not cry when I eat the stuff is a major challenge. Wanna bite?" Heero looked adorably confused and then nodded.

I considered just using my chopsticks and dropping a chicken in his box but I wanted to test his sour tolerance. Scootching over I took the spot right next to him and dipped the chicken in the sauce and proffered it for him, expecting him to take it with his chopsticks.

Instead Heero leaned down and took the chicken with his mouth and leaned away chewing thoughtfully. I waited in stunned silence, slowly getting over what he'd just done. I'd never thought that Heero Yuy could be flirtatious. I'd gotten used to his stoic, yet caring nature but I'd never seen him like this. Maybe he acted this way when away from prying eyes, or maybe he did it just around me. It was too much to hope for but it was still a very nice idea.

A second later Heero's eyes welled up and he coughed as he swallowed the chicken. "How can you stand that stuff?" He wheezed.

I just laughed and clicked my chopsticks at him. "It's an acquired taste. Here, take another one." I said, offering another one. I guess I justified it by thinking I wanted to see him acting 'normal' again but I think the shameless side of me wanted to feed him.

He shook his head, backing away slightly with another cough. "I think I'll avoid acquiring a taste for that. Here. Have a bit of mine." He'd gotten Mu Goo Gai Pan, which I did like, but I really never bought it for myself.

Heero curled his legs up to the cushion and turned to face me like I was facing him. Our knees touched slightly, very innocently but I felt my blush growing, which wasn't helped that by the fact that he was watching me and holding a piece of beef for me to take. Leaning forward I took the meat just like he did and was satisfied that when I leaned back he was blushing like I was.

We spent the rest of the night until I had to head to bed feeding each other. It was sickeningly cute and fun all the same. I said goodnight to him at my door and changed and went to bed thinking for most of the night about the man just down the hallway.

[xXx]

In the morning I wandered down the stairs in just my pajama bottoms and an oversized shirt. Shini was sitting happily on one of the heating vents. I patted the top of her head and moved to the kitchen to make coffee, forcing myself to remember that I was making coffee for two and Heero liked his coffee black. I'd have to add all my stuff in later on.

As I settled down at the table to watch the sky darken from the clouds outside I only had to wait a few moments before Heero came down the steps. I had made the mistake of taking a sip just before he came in and had to force scalding coffee down the wrong pipe. His hair was mussed adorably and unruly locks that usually fell around his face seemed to poke up even more.

He was in PJ bottoms and didn't seem to think that having a shirt on would be a necessity. As he came into the kitchen both Shini and I were watching him intently and he seemed completely oblivious to us. "Morning." I said, trying to keep my voice level.

Heero turned to me and gave me a terribly sexy smile that I was going to kill him for if he did that on purpose. "Morning Duo. Is the coffee safe?" I rolled my eyes and nodded, having trouble finding my voice. He had a very nice chest, one that came from years of working out.

He poured himself a cup and I watched the way the muscles under his shoulders move until he turned around and I went back to staring at my own doctored coffee. "Are you planning on coming to the clinic with me today?" I asked.

Heero took the seat across from me as naturally as anything and leaned back, nursing the mug. "I was hoping to catch a ride with you there."

My head shot up. "You sure? I have to go to church after work today."

He glanced to the Japanese woodblock calendar I had hanging on the far wall in bewilderment. "Isn't today a weekday though?"

I grinning and composed myself enough to look up. "I'm singing in the choir for the Christmas Eve Mass and I have a solo this year so Marlys is working me really hard this year."

"You have a solo? I'd love to hear it." Heero said, smiling slightly.

My blush deepened. "It's a secret song. You'll only get to hear it at Mass, that is… if you want to come."

He chuckled, "I'd love to. I've never been to one before. I'll come with you to practice too."

I struggled for words. "Well, it'll be boring really."

"It would be boring sitting around and waiting for you to get back. If it'll make you happier I'll bring a book to read while I listen."

"But there'll be tons of the church ladies trying to find out everything about you."

He laughed again and took a sip from his coffee. "In case you don't remember, most of them already have. At dinner?" I just nodded.

"Fine, you can come. But don't say I didn't warn you when you die of boredom."

After I finished breakfast I rushed away to take my shower and put my braid in order before dressing in jeans and a thermal shirt. Heero met me downstairs, thankfully wearing a respectable outfit this time.

[xXx]

We worked all day like usual with nothing new coming in. I had two surgeries and I tried to talk a man out of putting his dog down because he lost the sight in his other eye. I told him about the first clinic cat I'd had since I started the practice, Motorboat. She'd only had one eye and yet she lived to be 16 years old. He consented and I set him up for a surgery the next day.

Trowa was happy to have Heero back but he asked to leave early to go and get Heero a Christmas present. Everyone was in the Christmas spirit. Heero helped Solo put decorations around the front desk and even helped hold Lucky while one of the part time High school girls put a Santa hat on her. It lasted an hour before it disappeared somewhere near the conclave.

Quatre went so far as to cordially invite Heero to our Christmas party on the 24th. We were still working but it was the last day and most people were already gone so we spent the day just hanging around and listening to music and playing with some of our favorite borders. Heero just smiled at Quatre and accepted, trying not to laugh too hard.

After work he went with me straight to church where all the choir women were congregated along with the three men other than myself. Heero walked with me into the Church and went to on of the other pews and took out his book, and immediately buried himself in it.

All eyes settled on me. "He's a friend of mine and he's staying for the holiday. Some of you busybodies met him at Don Pedros a few months ago." That seemed to spark some of their memories while the others looked between him and me while I sidled in between George and Paco. Paco leaned over to me and whispered,

"You're doing great. If you need any help fending off the crowd just holler, George and I will create a distraction to help you two get out of here safely." I just laughed as Marlys instructed us to the first song.

During the first song Heero set down his book to listen and whenever I looked up those infuriatingly blue eyes seemed to always be settled on me.

[xXx]

Afterwards Heero walked me to the car, laughing as I yawned for the fifth time since we left practice. "I'll drive, hand over the keys." I was so tired that I didn't even protest. He helped me into my seat and went to start my car. The drive home was short but halfway through Heero's hand came off the steering wheel and crept over to take my hand in his.

His hand was warm and strong and I felt myself drifting off slightly until he woke me up at the house. "Want me to carry you in?" He joked and I spluttered and hurried out of the car.

We finished the night eating leftovers and talking about choir practice. He'd liked it a lot and kept telling me all these compliments that just made me blush more and more. "If I didn't know any better I'd think that you enjoy making me blush."

Heero just smirked, "I enjoy watching you and if I make you blush then that's all the better." He finished off the rest of his rice and set it aside to lean back against the couch and settle his gaze on me carefully. "You're an intriguing man Duo Maxwell. When I first met you I was intrigued by you. Then I came to find you and you became even more intriguing because of the way you fought me and pulled me in all at the same time."

He reached out a hand to play at one of the messy bangs framing my face, "Will I ever understand you?" He murmured.

I didn't know what to say. For a moment I wanted to ask if there had been something funny in his food that had made him say those things but it felt nice having someone talk like that to me that I didn't want him to stop.

Slowly he moved a little closer and wrapped me up in his arms. He smelled amazing and warmth poured from him into my body and it was almost like an aphrodisiac that clouded my mind.

Somewhere in the fog my fight or flight mechanism kicked in and I suddenly thought that I had to run before I fell for him any more. I'd made a promise to myself that I was going to drive him away but even in this confused state I knew, there was no way I'd be able to get rid of him now. He'd created this huge Heero shaped imprint on my life and my friends and if that was gone I had no idea who'd be able to come and actually fill that because none of us would accept anyone else.

One of my hands came to rest on his thigh while the other came to weave in his shirt. I didn't say anything and neither did he for the longest time until I started to slip off to sleep for the second time that night. My forehead came to rest against Heero's collar and I could feel him chuckle and shake me softly. "If you fall asleep here you'll have a hell of a crick in your neck tomorrow and you have two surgeries in the morning." I just groaned and uncurled my limbs, hissing as Heero's warmth receded from me.

I murmured a half hearted 'goodnight' to him and turned to go when he caught my hand and placed a warm kiss on the inside of my wrist that seemed to linger long after I'd climbed into bed. Shini was sitting on the pillow adjacent to mine staring at me like she knew, whatever it was she knew I didn't want to find out. So, in an attempt to block out her gaze I flung the covers over my head and buried under the sheets ending up somewhere around the middle of my bed.

[xXx]

Christmas Eve was one of my favorite days of the year next to Christmas Day and New Years Eve and New Years Day. I liked the presents and friends on Christmas and the drinking on New Years.

When Christmas Eve day dawned there was a new layer of dry snow on the ground and the crystals were clinging to my windows as I got out of bed and threw on a smock with dogs wearing Christmas hats and cats with mistletoe on it and went downstairs where Heero was waiting for me.

Things had become very stable after his spontaneous moment of affection those two nights before and he'd been nice enough to not bring it up again. "Merry Christmas Eve!" I cheered happily, flinging my arms around his neck.

He wrapped his arms around me and smiled at me. "Merry Christmas Eve to you too." Then he planted a very soft kiss against my cheek that caused me to turn bright red and wriggle out of his grasp in embarrassment.

The clinic party was just about getting underway when we came into the clinic. Quatre had put up mistletoe under all the employee accessible doorways and was making it his point to catch Trowa whenever he was going in or coming out of the break room in order to steal a kiss or two. Lucky had on a new collar with cheery bells attached and Fresca had a collar with mistletoe on the side.

Quatre squashed Santa hats on our heads and pulled out the Bing Crosby CDs and meat plate and we exchanged presents. The tradition was one small present on Christmas Eve at the clinic and then when we met for Christmas Dinner at my house we'd open the rest of the presents.

I'd gotten Heero a blue scarf that I'd asked one of the ladies at the church to make for me. I'd picked out the material so it perfectly matched his eyes. All he ever had when he came here was a coat and gloves and really, in our area of Wyoming you need a scarf at least nine months out of the year. He just laughed and wrapped it around his neck, modeling it for everyone.

At 12:30 we closed up shop and I went straight to my room to nap before Christmas Eve Mass, also known as Midnight Mass. The last thing I wanted to do was yawn during my solo that night.

I got up around 10:30 and dressed in a perfectly fitting red shirt with a lower neck than usual and nice black jeans and made sure my hair was neately braided before adding the final touch, my silver necklace with Heero's ring hanging right above the neckline of the shirt.

Heero must have heard me milling about since he came out of his room right then looking very sharp in a blue shirt and black slacks wirh my scarf draped around his neck. "Well, now, don't you look handsome!" I commented, sauntering forward.

He just grinned sweetly at me. "I'd say the same for you." His hand moved to the chain and ran down the length to finger the ring and my eyes traveled down to his own ring placed firmly on his finger.

Suddenly feeling subconscious I pulled away and said, "We gotta get there early. The pews fill up quickly." He just nodded and followed me down the stairs and out to the car after bundling up.

At church there were already a fair number of cars in the parking lot so we parked to the side near Solo's old jalopy of a truck. Heero's hand came to rest on the small of my back as he escorted me into the church. I went to sit with the choir as he went over to plant himself next to Solo who looked very beautiful in a red velvet dress that I hadn't seen her wear for years. It was amazing how she fit in clothes from so long ago.

As mass started we went through our songs until after communion when I was supposed to wait until everyone was sitting and then sing my song. Butterflies swirled violently in my stomach. It wasn't like I hadn't sung a solo before but now I was singing with Heero in the crowd and I just felt like I had to impress him.

Finally zero hour came and I walked up to the mic and looked up into the crowd and immediately found Heeo's unmistakable eyes trained on me and then the butterflies were gone. The beginning notes of my song started and I opened my mouth to start singing.

* * *

So, I decided that was the best place to stop this. I needed to be able to transition into Heero next. That chapter should be pretty long too, but that also means that'll take me a while to make also. I've been way busy lately and I was lucky enough that I was able to update now.

I hope you guys stick around. We're going to start winding down soon. You'll actually be able to witness an amazing feat, I'll have actually finished a story!

Well! Have a nice night all. Hope Duo and Heero weren't too out of character for you.


	10. Caledonia

**Chapter Ten  
**_Caledonia_

**Notes:** Yay!!! Oh yeah, OOCness goes along with that 'yay' too.

**Disclaimer:** Just like all the others. I don't own this, I do it for fun… blah de blah. I also don't own Celtic Woman.

**POV:** Heero

* * *

Duo's voice was beautiful and the song he was singing seemed to fit him perfectly. I'd heard him humming sometimes on the phone and knew he had a nice voice but I didn't know it was that good. At many points he would close his eyes as if feeling the words of the song. When he finished his voice still hung in the air for a few moments before fading away.

Beside me Solo smiled slowly and turned to wink at me. Duo moved to sit down and caught my glance. I nodded, heart beating rapidly, and smiled and he smiled back, looking thoroughly relieved.

Mass ended a few moments later and people tiredly moved to leave. Some crowded around Duo to talk about his song so Solo and I waited until the groups trundled away before advancing on him. He seemed to practically be shining.

Solo latched onto him, congratulating him before standing back. "I'll be by around noon to help with dinner and Quat and Trowa said they'd be there around 2." Duo nodded, kissed the top of her head and wished her a Merry Christmas. She waved to me and bustled away, yanking her hair down from its elegant bun.

Duo turned to me finally, looking almost shy. He didn't ask or say anything, just smiled as he took my hand and nodded to the door. He let me drive us home and say staring out the window looking thoughtful. I almost felt afraid to and just watched the blacktopped road disappear under our tires.

We still didn't speak as we got out of the car and even entering the house we were still quiet. I was sure he wasn't upset mad since he kept turning to grin at me but he never spoke!

We put away our jackets and took off our shoes like normal. Duo began to mount the steps, looking over his shoulder to make sure I was following him. Intrigued by his actions I carefully followed up the steps and found him waiting for me at the top of the steps, a small smile on his lips. "Well…" I started quietly. "Your song was nice, I bet your tired so… I guess we should be heading to bed." Duo still didn't move. "Um… Merry Christmas." I finished pathetically.

On a sudden spur of the moment thought I leaned forward and pressed my lips against Duo's own. Kissing him was different than kissing anyone else. His lips were soft and hard and cold and warm and perfect. It wasn't a magical moment where fireworks exploded because I pulled back too quickly.

"Good ni-" Duo cut me off by grabbing my wrist and pulling me forward to wrap his arms around my neck securely and melded his lips to mine. Opening my mouth to let him in was when I finally saw the fireworks.

We broke apart for breath and he rested his forehead against mine, watching my eyes carefully. I was sure that he hadn't had anything to drink so this wasn't like our night in Vegas so why was he acting like this?

"Duo?" I whispered, praying I wasn't in a dream. What had brought around this sudden change? Not that I was complaining, I just didn't understand it. Before I could say anything else he pressed his finger against my lips and whispered back.

"Please, don't say anything just yet." He kissed me once more and lingered there, hot breath playing across my lips in hot bursts. Slowly, almost tauntingly Duo's fingers slid down my arm to intertwine with my own hands. Our hands latched together and he pulled away and I was suddenly away aware of how cold the house was.

I was brought back to my senses as I heard Duo's doorknob rattle as he pushed open the door and pulled me into the warm, inky darkness of his room.

[xXx]

Moon shone through the still partially open curtains, casting a thin thread of light across the bed. A heavy presence rested against my lower abdomen, hair tickling the tender skin there and hot breath warming my body.

Sometime after we'd fallen asleep Duo had slid down to wrap the sheets around his body and use me as his pillow. His braid trailed up the bed to rest on the real pillow beside my own head while some hairs had come loose everywhere, especially around his face. He'd curled up into a protective ball against the cold of the room, even though I really couldn't feel any of it.

As I stirred he squeezed his eyes tight and burrowed closer to my body. I reached down to brush my fingertip against his cheek, marveling at how soft he was. He was still flushed from our previous activities.

At my touch his eyes flickered open to look at me, trying to make out my form in the partial light. "What time is it?" He whispered, as if he didn't want to ruin the almost sacred quiet that had fallen over the room. Slowly he slid his body up mine to rest his head farther up my chest. Even half awake the man drove me crazy and I loved it.

"4:33." I managed out, trying not to concentrate too hard at the feeling of him next to me. I started to stroke the top of his head as he breathed deeply, winding an arm around my body like a stuffed bear. "Duo?" I whispered, my throat tightening up.

"Hmm?" The sound vibrated against me.

"What does this mean? About us?"

Duo looked up at me; moonlight reflecting the light purples and blues in his eyes. "It means that you won."

I blinked, thoroughly confused. "I won?"

He nodded, untangling our bodies to crawl up and lay with his slight shoulder touching mine. "I told myself that I wasn't going to let you win me over. I wasn't going to fall in love but you changed that plan. You won my heart."

"How?" I asked, breathlessly. This was what I wanted, what I'd been working for for months but I hadn't exactly thought I would get it. All thoughts of Wufei and the plan flew right out of my mind as Duo began to speak again, staring out at the sliver of moon.

"No one has ever persisted for my attention like you did. I'd had a few relationships before but none of them wanted to stick around as long as you. They saw the family I'd created here and how deeply rooted I was here and they turned tail and ran the first second they could."

He tentatively took my hand in his, "I guess you could say this started when you began to bring me coffee and helped out at the clinic. Then you kept talking and listening to me on the phone and finally you sat through midnight mass for me, which I know is the last thing on most people's lists. All that just seemed to finally fit together until we ended up here."

My free hand moved to his braid to toy with the end, trying to ignore the burning blush on my cheeks. "You won me over too, you know." I whispered in his ear, reveling in the feeling of his turning towards me to place his hand over my heart.

"How?" He murmured, nuzzling my neck.

"In everything you did, from your original disgust of me all the way to this moment now. Everything about you won me over from the first second on that dance floor." I moved the tip of his braid down the bridge of his nose to brush over his lips.

We were silent for a second, "I want to stay here with you." I murmured.

"I don't mind staying here in bed with you either." Duo grinned.

I swallowed, "No… I mean here with you in Dustin." Duo's attention turned straight to me, almost as if he didn't want to believe it. "I don't like having to wait months before I get to see you again and I know you'd rather die that live in New York."

"But your job!" Duo protested but I silenced him with a soft yank of his braid.

"Wufei's may not like it but he's ready to take my job and I have more than enough money to retire now. I want to stay here with you Duo."

He laughed brightly and flung his arms around my neck hugging me close. "When?" He asked breathlessly.

"As soon as I possibly can. It'll take a few months to get everything started but very soon, I promise you."

His lips descended upon mine, kissing me hungrily. I had to stop him before we repeated what had transpired only a few hours before. "Your sister is going to be here at noon, we need to be up and looking respectable _before_ then."

Duo pouted slightly but I kissed it away with a laugh. 'We'… I liked the sound of that.

[xXx]

Solo kept grinning at me each time I'd walking into the kitchen to retrieve the next tray. It was strange how I was sure that she knew, but I was glad she wasn't condemning me. Hours later Quatre and Trowa showed up on Duo's doorstep, both were quite a sight to see.

Trowa had been forced into a Santa hat with jingle bells at the end while Quatre was decked out in a red shirt with white fur. Trowa looked as stoic as usual but there seemed to be a red-ish dusting on his cheeks. Quatre looked cheerful as always as he trundled through the door tugging Trowa behind him by the hand.

"Merry Christmas!" He cheered, holding up a few bottles of wine and I knew that today was going to be a long day.

[xXx]

By the time we'd gotten to dinner Quatre was giddy and Trowa was louder than normal. Duo seemed to be unaffected and Solo had named herself the 'designated present opener'. Their tradition was eat dinner around noon and then open presents.

The dinner was amazing, all crafted by Solo's artful hand. It was one of the best holiday dinners I'd ever had complete with ham and potatoes and stuffing and almost everything else in the world that you could want for Christmas. My Christmas dinners were usually at a 5-star restaurant with tiny portions. Solo made sure that when she gave you your food there was so much you couldn't see the plate beneath it.

Duo was in the festive mood, singing carols with Solo while Trowa played the flute and Quatre brought out his violin. When dinner and singing was over we plunked down in front of the tree and Duo played the elf by handing out the presents to everyone.

Quatre had gotten me a set of classics he'd heard me talking about (though these ones had gold around the pages and thick covers) while Trowa got me an MP3 player. He didn't say why he did though. Duo saved my presents for last and even then he held back one, whispering conspiratorially in my ear, "Later Tonight."

Even though I could barely hear him myself everyone seemed to infer what was happening by the huge blush that formed on my face. My gift to Duo had taken me forever to find. He was one of the hardest people in the world to find presents for. He didn't want anything. I'd been wracking my brain for what felt like ages until I heard him humming on the phone, and then it hit me.

I handed him the package and he savagely tore it open, his jaw dropping open in surprise. "What is this?" He almost shrieked, ripping it from its box.

Solo leaned up from her knees to rest her elbows on his knees and whistled, "It looks like something you'd expect to see used by James Bond or Chuck!"

I just laughed, "It's a digital voice recorder. [1] When we talked on the phone you would hum and I thought this would be fun for you. Even if you don't use it to sing into it's still fun to play with and you can record music too." Duo was watching me with an indefinable expression but I soon got his meaning when he launched onto me and kissed me with more fervor than I'd expected at that moment.

At 9 when they'd all gone to their respective homes Duo showed me what my present was and then some. Later that night Duo rested on my chest, fingering the ring on the chain. He'd allowed me to take his braid out and I was still in awe over just how beautiful he was. Without really noticing my movements my fingers kept running through the silky locks. He just sort of complained by muttering, "It's going to be Hell in the morning when I have to re-braid…"

Finally my hand moved down to connect with his. "I'm glad you're wearing it." I murmured. He looked up at me and smiled, glancing over at my own ring.

"Do people ask about your ring back in New York?"

"They glance and wonder but they like to keep to themselves, don't pry. The newbies ask and I tell them that it means I am married to the most amazing person in the world. That's good enough for them because romance doesn't go very far in people's imaginations now-a-days."

Duo just laughed, reaching up to kiss the underside of my chin. "You don't say much and when you do it's amazing." He stopped to look up at me. "Why can't you just stay here?"

"Because I need to finish my Quebec project. It's a big project and if it goes through it'll be one of the best things to happen my company."

"It's really important?"

I just nodded. "There had been a lot of work put into the Quebec project and we need it to go through. Plus, it would be amazing to finish off my time there with this project under my belt." Duo nodded but he didn't say anything for a few moments until,

"Whenever you start working you look different." I started down at him, confused. "You look unhappy though when you're at the clinic you seem to change." He moved up a little more. "Do you even enjoy what you do?"

I was all ready to say yes but it stuck in my throat. I didn't like my job; I did it out of obligation. I'd never noticed it before but because of watching Duo at his job I began to realize how much he really loves being with the animals at the clinic and how happy he was.

Finally I shook my head, no, I didn't like my job.

[xXx]

For the next few days after I buried myself in the Quebec project and tiredly listening to Wufei rant about how I needed to be in New York and not out were "the red-necks" run wild.

For the time that I had with Duo I basked in his glow. Everything around him seemed to radiate with his energy and I loved it. He was beautiful and I couldn't wait for the time that I could stay with him. Forget Wufei's grand master plan to make Relena mad. Even now, thinking back to it I couldn't even understand why I'd agreed to this… but if I hadn't I wouldn't have forced myself into Duo's life.

I probably would have tracked him down and if he hadn't wanted me right away I would have gone back to New York, served him the divorce papers and gone on my merry way. But now I can't think of anything without him.

Duo's New Year Eve bash lasted well into the morning of New Year's day when Trowa and Quatre crashed on the couch and Solo was sleeping with her feet on the bed and the rest of her on the floor.

Duo and I had taken the couch near the Christmas tree. I'd wrapped the two of us in a blanket and had burrowed down as far as we could go. I was amazed when I found that Duo was still near coherency when he murmured "You're leaving on the 3rd right?"

"Yes."

"Then can we stay here until then?"

I just laughed, "You get very romantic when you're drunk, you know? I could never expect you to say this sober." Duo just pinched my side. "With this headache I have now I don't plan on moving for a while."

"Good." Duo murmured.

The next Day Duo still felt a ringing in his ears and he looked about ready to bite any dog that barked around him. He was still grouchy when I started to pack up my stuff that night but this time he was grumpy that he hadn't coerced me into staying just another night.

"Please?" He asked once again, giving me the biggest puppy dog eyes I had ever imagined.

I leaned over him to kiss him softly but didn't reply. Duo leaned back on his elbows and looked me up and down. "You'd better not be rushing back to New York for some other lover cause I think this ring says something." I turned and rolled my eyes at him.

I kissed him once more, only longer this time. "When I come back the next time I'm going to be here to stay." He just nodded and tugged me down to the bed.

[xXx]

When I got off the plane in New York I started to cough, the crisp air almost hurt compared to the cool, almost filtered air of Wyoming. I dropped by my apartment before going to the office, taking a moment to collect myself and just relax. Wufei called at least twice to demand why I wasn't at the office but I just ignored him and got there thirty minutes later.

Wufei was pacing in my office looking irate. "Your plane landed forty five minutes ago."

"I was tired so I went to my apartment to rest." I said, moving to sit at my desk. I wasn't going to miss this.

Wufei slammed his hands down on the top of my desk, "What is that hick doing to you?" He demanded angrily.

I turned to fix my own icy stare on him, "He's helped me." Wufei started to splutter angrily. "I have decided that after the Quebec project goes through I'm going to go back to live with Duo. You will take over my office and position and you will do it without complaint."

I'd never seen Wufei look so mad, but it was worth it. He stormed out of my office angrily, leaving me to boot up my computer and start looking over the Quebec project.

* * *

I love this story! I'm enjoying this so much! I was going to wait a while to put this up but I was just in such a good mood.

Here is my shameless music plug. The title is a song from the group from Celtic Woman. I would recommend this group to anyone who just loved a good song to fall asleep to or to relax to.

**P.S.** Listen to At the Ceili!

I finished watching Mona Lisa Smile and I just feel happy… and feel like taking an Art History class.

Hope you guys enjoyed this, hope it wasn't too OOC, hope you review.

[1] This is the link to the recorder that Heero got Duo. Remove the spaces and all that jazz.

olympusamerica com /cpg_section ? product=1350


	11. On The Right Track

**Chapter Eleven  
**_On The Right Track_

**Notes:** Yay!!! I love everyone so much for those amazing reviews last chapter. (Shameless plug: They make me update faster –wink wink-)

These next to chapters are going to be extremely short so I'm going to try to update them a little faster than the rest.

**Disclaimer:** Just like all the others. I don't own this, I do it for fun… blah de blah..

**POV:** Wufei (Weren't expecting that were you?)

* * *

Heero was going down a specific road, and it wasn't the right one. I liked the way the roles in our lives had been going until he made that stupid mistake. Before Heero allowed his mind to be taken over by the hicks in Hickville he was the toughest person in the world to go against in the office.

I considered him family. Mr. Lowe and I had taken him in years ago after his guardian gave up on him. We'd trained him to be what he used to be and he never disappointed us, until now.

He was the heavy lifter in our little business. I did the background work and let him slam everyone else into the ground. I didn't want to be the main person. Heero couldn't leave, Mr. Lowe wouldn't stand for it and neither would I.

I waited until Heero had finished telling Mr. Lowe about his 'grand master plan' and then went to the top floor to have a chat with the big man. When I was ushered in Mr. Lowe was sitting in his high back chair, turned to the window. I coughed unobtrusively to get his attention and he swiveled to face me. His fingers were peaked and resting close to his pinched lips.

He didn't wait for me to say anything and begin speaking. "Now, when you came to me to tell me about Heero going to the middle of no-where I allowed you to encourage him. Now he took a vacation during a very critical deal and has decided to leave us. I'm sure that all the blame lays on you and I expect you to fix this problem. I have no clue how you plan to get Heero to stay but when you do get an I idea I hope it's a good one."

I'd kept my head respectively bowed, "If I may say speak sir." He nodded.

"I was afraid that something like this might happen since Heero is very malleable to the will of anything pretty, we can see that from how he allowed himself to be wrapped around Miss Peacecraft's finger. Right after he came back and I saw the warning signs and decided to ensure our safety." I moved forward, pulling a Digital Voice Recorder from my pocket and setting it on his desk.

"What is this?" Mr. Lowe asked, leaning forward to pick it up.

"Our chaos control." And then I flipped the switch to turn on the recording. I knew within seconds that I had regained my status in Mr. Lowe's eyes.

After listening to the recording he leaned back in his chair, waiting for the rest of my plan. "I think Miss Relena would be more than happy to hear this. She's been very upset with how Heero has been acting and would do anything to make sure he was safely back in her arms."

Mr. Lowe's lips curled up into a sinister sneer. "Very well then. You have my leave to go." With another respectful bow I backed out and went to my secretary.

"I need you to get a hold of Miss Relena Peacecraft for me." She glanced up at me, chewing her gum like a cow and reached for her phone. I needed to get a new secretary but for right now she worked. "Set up an appointment for us to have lunch. I have something important to speak with her about over lunch."

Slowly I moved to my office to wait for her to tell me what Relena said. After about ten minutes I was getting ready to storm back to her desk and ask why the hell she hadn't told me what Relena said when her nasally voice broke over the intercom.

"She said that tomorrow for dinner at 7 at Kuruma Zushi."

I thanked her and wrote in the time and date. I always enjoyed my meetings with Relena, no matter how I acted around Heero about them. Relena had impeccable tastes and always chose the best places to eat. She was professional in everything she did and expected people to listen to every single thing she said and do everything she wanted them to do. That's why she was known as the Queen of Peace.

The rest of the day Heero and I worked together on the Quebec project, which was becoming more and more complicated with every passing hour. I didn't speak with him about my meeting with Relena, that would have only made him upset and we wanted him as calm as possible.

Every-so-often he would take his cell-phone from his pocket and text when he thought I wasn't looking because he knew how much I hated anyone texting. I was very glad to be meeting with Relena. Once we were done she could take him back under her spell and help rehabilitate him.

I excused myself about 6:30 to make my way to the restaurant and Heero used that as an excuse to leave early and go and call Duo. We were running out of time.

[xXx]

When I arrived I only had to wait a few moments before the Queen of Peace appeared as regally as ever before. She looked marvelous in silk with her hair cascading down her back like usual. I couldn't see why Heero had ever thought that rat from the middle of nowhere could compare to this beauty. Maybe he had a thing for long hair.

Yes, I do think she is featherbrained and only obsessed with being seen but I respected her ability to command any room and be so high standing in socialite society.

I rose from my seat and pulled hers out for her. She batted her baby blues at me and thanked me sweetly. I'd seen her when she was in private and I had to commend her on her acting skills when out in public. "Thank you for inviting me to dinner." She said sweetly, folding her napkin over her lap.

"Well, I was hoping for lunch." I replied, following her lead.

"Lunch is only for friendly meetings, not ones so important that they include Heero in the mix. Now, what would you like to speak to me about."

"His husband." Her eyes narrowed and I could tell that she was very suspicious of how this conversation was going.

She waved for me to go on as she perused her menue but I knew that she was listening to everything I was saying. "When Heero left you he went off to Vegas and apparently became so disgustingly drunk that he went ahead and married some random man that he met in a bar."

Relena gasped theatrically, placing her gloved hand against her heart. If she hadn't made it as a socialite Relena could have easily passed for an actress. "Go on." She urged me, waving away the waiter who had just set down our drinks and was getting ready to take our order.

Now, I knew that the only way my plan would work was if I had Relena's utmost trust and of course what I had recorded earlier would not work. So I gone ahead and had a friend of mine doctor the conversation I'd recorded about Duo the day Heero came back to make sure that she could recognize Heero's voice but not mine.

"In here I have two recordings, one from after he came back from Vegas and one from when he came back from Dustin." I set the digital voice recorder on the table and smiled at her, encouraging her to listen. She glanced around at the people near us and turned the mic level down low so only we could hear and listened to the conversation.

"How did you get this?" She asked, aghast. Her lips were pulled down in a troubled frown and she was watching me carefully.

"I carry this recorder everywhere to take notes so I have it with me constantly. Now, the first recording was when I saw the man who came up with this plan going into his office and when I heard the beginning of the conversation dug this out and recorded it. After that I followed him and recorded this second conversation." I said, making sure that I covered all my bases.

She nodded, "That's a very smart plan Mr. Chang."

"Please Miss Peacecraft, Wufei." She just nodded, waving away the waiter once more.

"What do you plan that I do with this?" She asked carefully.

"I want you to save Heero. He has actually begun to fall for this _Duo_ person and has gotten the crazy notion in his head that after the Quebec project goes through he is going to leave Lowe international and live in Dustin with this man." For a moment there Relena looked like she was going to faint and I stopped long enough for her to take a sip of her wine.

"Now we can't let that happen and I think you would like the honor of getting rid of this man." She nodded,

"If it will help Heero, of course." She said.

"He may be blinded now by what he considers love and will be hurt for a while but I can assure you that if you care for him once they are broken up he will be back in your arms and you can finally have that wedding that you've always wanted."

"May I take this?" She asked and I nodded. Quickly she slipped the recording into her purse.

"Would you like his number or home address?"

"Home address. I've never been to Wyoming."

"And you're lucky for that." She chuckled and batted her eyes again and we laughed before turning back to our menus. "I've heard the omakase here is to die for.

* * *

Okay, I know it's short and the next chapter will probably be short too but really theses are like inter-chapters so please, don't kill me.

Have any of you ever noticed how funny it is to say Wufei's name out loud?


	12. You're Gonna Go Far Kid

**Chapter Twelve  
**_You're Gonna Go Far Kid_

**Notes:** Oh my God! My second least favorite chapter was the one to get the most shocking amount of reviews in my life. So, just remember to review again! (Shameless plug: They make me update faster –wink wink-)

**Disclaimer:** Just like all the others. I don't own this; I do it for fun… blah de blah. Nor do I own this song by The Offspring nor do I own the AVMA.

**POV:** Relena

* * *

Wufei had always been a good friend of mine, he was very kind to me when Heero decided to up and leave me and even kinder when I found out about Heero's horrible choice. Leaving me for some tumbleweed hick, I couldn't believe it!

I expected Heero to come back to his senses but soon he seemed to keep drowning in this person's spell. I have always appreciated Heero but when he began acting like that I just didn't know what to do. I wanted to help him but I didn't know how. He was so distant and cruel to me that I was at a loss for what to do.

Then Wufei, the wonderful man that he is, gave me a way to help my Heero. I'd never been a fan of the constant advance of technology; I had always told Heero that his job was bad for him. Computers were going to hurt his eyes eventually and rot his mind. But, the evidence on the digital voice recorder that Wufei presented me with was wonderful. More than I could have ever wished for.

I was only sorry that Wufei would not give up the name of the man who was poisoning my Heero's mind. But he was not important. What was important was getting Heero to come back to me and the best way to do that was get rid of the main root of the problem. The man in Wyoming, Duo Maxwell.

Once I'd heard his name from Heero that first time I made sure to do a fair bit of research. He wasn't worth Heero. An orphan in a backwater town with no family to his name and a miniscule clinic that made barely a fraction of what Heero made in a year. Pathetic!

I didn't want to hurt this man, it was clear he was a pawn but Heero was more important to me than some obscure hick. Before I went to speak with Duo I decided to make one last plea to Heero, to let him see the light and let Duo down easily. It would be nicer to not have to see Duo hurt but I would do anything for Heero but I guess in the end Duo was always going to turn out to be a commodity.

I went to Heero the next morning to ask him about what he wanted from Duo. Heero received me very coolly, not even glancing my way when I came through the door of his office. "What do you want Relena? I'm very busy." He grunted, blue eyes flashing across the information on the screen.

"I wanted to speak to you about Duo... and us." His shoulders straightened and he turned to look at me finally.

"What would you like to know?"

I stepped forward, careful this time after his horrible outburst from one of our earlier visits. "Why did you leave me?"

Heero rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Relena…"

"Please Heero, it's been bothering me for a while now." He stared at me for a while before replying.

"You're wonderful Relena, but you're too single-minded. You wanted to marry me because we made the perfect corporate couple, which I won't deny, at the time we did. But I didn't want to be the man that you paraded around on your arm for all the world to see."

My eyes narrowed. "You were threatened by me?"

"Not really, no. I admire how committed you are to the people that you help on a daily basis but I wasn't the one that you needed, in reality you don't need anyone, you're strong enough to hold yourself up without a man."

I sighed, "Did you ever stop to think that I wanted you, not your corporate status? I didn't think that you were the kind who wanted a romance so I didn't force one on you. I saw you as the kind who worked hard and on some level wanted companionship but not someone who clung to you and got mad when you didn't arrive home on time for dinner. I wanted to be that for you."

He smiled slightly and nodded for me to pull up the chair near him so I could sit and still speak with him on a personal level. "At one time that may have been what I wanted but for a while now I haven't had a clue what I want but you must realize that I have never seen you in a romantic way. You've always been a friend, not a lover or a wife."

I grasped for words, "But that's what makes us so perfect! You said you didn't want a wife so what you would need is a friend; I could be your friend! I wouldn't expect you home and I would let you have your privacy to do with what you please. I would be there as a shoulder for you or a companion for intimate closeness when you need it."

Heero chuckled slightly and shook his head. "Relena, I admire your want to be with me but trust me Relena, you don't want me and I don't want you, I'm sorry. I never have wanted you really, I just allowed you into my life because I was advised that it would be good for the company but now I know that the company would do fine without me and I don't have to worry. We are not matched for each other Relena, I actually think you and Wufei would be better suited." I mentally scoffed at the thought.

"So, Duo is a better match for you?"

He laughed softly, "I should have known you would do your research." When I didn't fight the statement he went on. "Duo and I are even less matched that you and I are. You think we're matched because we're so alike, I think we're mismatched because of that. Duo is loud and obnoxious but he's more human than either you or I could ever wish for."

His expression changed to something so sweet that my heart ached to look at it. "He's taught me so much about being human that I'm actually sad about not living the way he has. He's a friend when I need and a shock of reality when I get to involved in myself and a lover when I need one."

I stared at him, "Didn't you hear me just say that?"

"Yes, I did and Relena you _can_ be those things if you tried. He already _is_ all that by himself. He's not a warm body to keep me company. I wouldn't be willing to leave Mr. Lowe if he was just a warm body to use when I got tired. Now Relena, if we're done I have work to finish." He dismissed me with a small nod before he turned back to his beloved computer and went back into his own little world.

What had Duo done to him? He wasn't the man I'd fallen in love with and all I knew what that I needed to get him back to the way he was before.

I hadn't wanted this to come to this sort of ending but I needed to help Heero. I got Duo's address and my plane tickets to Wyoming and boarded the plane, keeping the digital voice recorder safely by my side.

My want to save Heero increased when I stepped off the plane and into the barren land that people were dumb enough to name a state. I didn't want Heero living in the squalor. He needed grand apartments and large-scale buildings and Central Park, not dust and dirt and men wandering around in cowboy boots.

The man at the rental corner was annoying and uneducated and said "umm" after every word before he finally told me where my car and chauffer were. I knew that after I left the heathen was smirking at my back, probably planning on going to the bar with a few of his hick friends and make up a lie about the city woman that had flirted with him at the counter.

My car was cleaned just as I wanted, I granted them that, but my chauffer could have used some work. I kept wishing as we drove into Dustin that I could have rolled up a divider window so I didn't have to stare at the back of his balding head the whole way there.

He took me straight to the "clinic" as he called it, talking about how the doctor has saved his poor Terra's life from a 20-pound tumor two years ago. I cringed as he spoke about the blood and tired to tune him out but he was apparently a man who couldn't be ignored.

I tried to imagine Heero with a man who could hold a 20-pound tumor and found the result disturbing. Heero didn't like blood or hands on work, how could he hold a man who went into a dog's body and pull out something like that? Even if it did save the mongrel's life.

The clinic was set on a hill with limited amount of parking; thankfully there was barely anyone at the clinic right then. I felt bad that I was going to speak with Duo at his work but I'd only been able to arrive during working hours and I had a flight back to New York to catch an hour later. This was the only time I was going to be able to finish my project.

I had my chauffer stay in the car, telling him to read a magazine or –God forbid- a book in my absence. The inside was at least clean of animal excrement or anything like that so that was a good sign. Two men sat at the front counter and the blond smiled up at me, "Hello. I'm guessing you're not here to pick up Abby." I shook my head, vaguely wondering what Abby was. "Then how may I help you?"

"I'm here to speak with Doctor Maxwell." I said crisply.

The blond looked confused for a moment then he nodded, "Is this about an animal problem because if you needed I could-"

"No, I need to speak with him about Heero Yuy." The blond looked even more perplexed.

"Is he okay?"

I sighed at the young man's persistence, this doctor needed a new secretary because their jobs didn't involve asking people questions that didn't involve them. "Heero is fine. Now may I speak with him?"

The blond hesitated before turning to his companion. "Trowa, could you get Duo?" Trowa just nodded and left the reception area.

In order to stop the young man from prying anymore I turned to a bulletin board that held notices for lost pets, obedience training advertisements and advertisements for selling dogs that were certified by the AVMA, whatever that was. Next to the door a large sign had been posted, "Following the law enforced by the AVMA we will not do ear crops or tail docks to any more animals." Before I could wonder what that was about a bright voice next to me asked,

"You wanted to see me?" Duo Maxwell was something of a shock compared to what I had originally thought of him. He was handsome just like in his picture with his long braid and brightly shining almost purple eyes. Seeing him in person was something else though. He exuded confidence that I had only seen in top-notch business people like Heero but he was also calming and sweet. For a moment I thought of making up a lie about me wanting him a Heero to be happy but then I thought of Heero and returned to my original plan.

"Yes, I'm here to speak to you about Heero Yuy." A look of worry crossed Duo's handsome face and I quickly amended, "Don't worry he's perfectly fine. I was hoping to speak with you in private."

The worry on his face abated slightly and he said, "Follow me, my office is right down this hallway." I followed quietly, staring at the wall of dog food that lined the wall until we reached his small and partially crowded office.

He sat in his chair and nodded to the other one that sat in the corner. Apparently he didn't hold much business in his office. Before he could say anything to me I launched into the introductions.

"My name is Relena Peacecraft. I have something that I want you to listen to before you decide you want to spend your whole life with Heero Yuy."

* * *

I know there are going to be many reasons for you all to want to kill me, let me list them then I'll give my escuses.

1. The long wait. (I really meant to get this out on Wednesday)

2. How badly this chapter is written.

3. The horrible content of this chapter.

Now the reason for the long wait is because this week is the last week of the play I've been working on since February. Tonight is our last performance so we've been working our butts off. Last week was prom and all the rest of the time in between was either working on my online college course work or recovering from that work.

The chapter is written so horribly because I wanted to get this written before I went to performance tonight because we have to strike the set and I won't be home before midnight and I promised myself to get it out tonight since I didn't on Wednesday.

Finally I hate this chapter too. It was so hard for me to write but I'm glad I'm done now.

So, that's about it. My next chapter should be up sometime in the near (or far) future. Sorry, please don't kill me but make sure to tell me what you think!


	13. Little Sparrow

**Chapter 13**  
_Little Sparrow_

**Notes:** See bottom for my geeky dedication. By the way, Happy Easter!!!

**Disclaimer:** Don't own the Gundam Boys or the song. I just own everything else.

**POV:** Duo

* * *

I stared at the girl who, for looking so sweet and innocent she looked rather fierce, and tried to figure out what she was saying. "You're talking about Heero correct?" She nodded sharply.

The look in her eyes made me really afraid. What if she said something that I didn't really want to hear? "I-I don't kn-" I tried to stop her by getting up to move to the door but she moved right in my way.

"No, Duo, I can't see someone else get hurt by this man. I want you to listen to this and decide whether you really want to spend your life with a man like this.

She pulled a digital voice recorder from her pocket and handed it from me and proceeded to instruct me in how to work it but I stopped her, feeling shaky. "I have the exact same thing, don't worry." Before I went to the track that she indicated my finger paused over the button for a moment. Did I really want to hear anything that could change my view of Heero? I'd just gotten to really like him.

Finally I took a breath and started up the player and listened in complete stillness as Heero's voice filtered over the crisp speakers. Suddenly I hated how well those speakers worked because I didn't want whatever was said on this to belong to Heero.

The first recording was apparently just the base for the cake. A man's voice was speaking and the woman, Relena, was very adamant that this man was speaking to Heero.

As I listened to the recording I felt like my heart was trying to crawl to freedom through my throat.

_"How far are you planning on taking this?"_ The man asked, sounding serious.

Heero seemed very annoyed at the intrusion. _"Should I just replace my door with one of the spinning ones at the Plaza? That way you could still come in without knocking but there'd be a bell I could hear instead."_

_"How far are you planning on taking this whole plan?"_

_"What plan?" _Those words seemed to spark a little hope in me until I heard the man's reply.

_"The plan to, what was it? Oh yes, woo, Mr. Maxwell here."_

_"What are you talking about?"_

The man made a small choking noise._ "You're not falling for him are you?"_

_"Of course I'm not. I just think it would be good if I make the show as plausible as possible, Relena may be feather brained at some times but she's still sharp and she'll notice any small mistake in this plan."_ My jaw dropped and I looked up at Relena who was pressing her hand to her chest tenderly, looking saddened. I wondered what she'd felt when this had been presented to her.

"_I thought so. Just remember, he is a commodity, something to be used until he's no longer needed, don't get too attached. Once we are sure that Relena has moved on I expect you to forget him. We don't need him ruining your work ethic."_

The digital voice recorder stopped and I grasped it in my hand. "I'm very sorry miss-" I started, feeling completely hollow. She shook her head,

"No, no, I just needed to make sure that Heero couldn't hurt you like he did me. We had the wedding planned and everything and then he was just gone." She sighed and seemed to perk up, "Well, I have to get back on my plane. I'll leave my address with you so you can send this back to me when you're done with it."

"You seem to be coping well." I said incredulously.

Relena turned an understanding eye on me. "Heero hurt me deeply but I have an obligation and I can't allow Heero to have the knowledge that he hurt me that much. I advise you do the same Mr. Maxwell." She nodded at me, took my hand lightly and then wandered out of the office.

Suddenly I realized how quiet my office was and everything seemed to drop down on me. Heero had been a liar, just as I'd expected. Why had I been so dumb?

Quatre popped his head into the office a few moments later but when he saw me stopped and turned to Trowa to tell him to take care of the client before bustling into the room. "Duo? Are you okay? Does this have anything to do with that woman that was here earlier?"

I just shook my head and handed the voice recorder to him and hit play so he could hear what I just had. When the recording was over Quatre was silent for a few moments. "Duo, I think you should go home. I'll cancel the rest of your appointments. Just go home." I tried to protest but he literally forced me into my jacket and out the door.

Normally I am able to keep going when bad things happen to me but this time I just felt so damn empty and messed up that I actually did go home. I barely remember the drive and didn't even register Solo's truck in the driveway until I found her waiting in on the other side of the door. She looked very pissed but sweet at the same time. "Why are you here?" I grumbled flatly.

"Quat called me and told me what just happened. He probably shouldn't have sprung into the story when I was in Smith's because I started swearing a mile a minute and I think I scared both the cashier and bagboy. Are you okay?" She wrapped me in a tight embrace.

"I'm still trying to figure out what the hell just hit me." I murmured.

She led me to the living room where Shini promptly settled down on my lap. "Let me have the thing. I want to listen to this first hand." I handed over the evil little contraption and thankfully she went to another room to listen to it. I didn't think I could take hearing Heero's voice saying all those awful things anymore.

When Solo came back she looked about ready to blow but her voice seemed almost frighteningly calm. "You need to call him and confront him about this." She said, fists shaking at her side.

I felt so odd because I really thought I needed to be as mad as she was but I just couldn't do it. "What should I ask?" I inquired dumbly.

Solo was, thankfully, very patient with me as she replied. "Ask him about the contents of the tape and why he did what he did. I don't suggest letting him off the hook, just make sure you're not crucifying the wrong man before you do."

"Now?" I asked quietly, dreading the idea. Solo thought for a moment.

"Yes." She finally murmured. "Get it over and done with."

I pulled my phone feeling almost ridiculous. Why was I worrying? Heero possibly couldn't have said all that stuff… but that was his voice. It's hard not to recognize the accent after being around him so much and listening to him on the phone constantly-

Solo's hand descended on mine to wake me up. Apparently I'd been staring at the phone. "Want me to whip up something chocolaty?" I nodded feebly, grateful that she wasn't going to just stand there and watch me do this. She whisked away and I was left alone with my cat and my phone.

Finally I took my deciding breath and hit Heero's number on the speed dial. He answered on the second ring sounding hatefully happy to hear from me, so much so that I was tempted to just forget all this. People lived with horrible spouses for years, they just stood them until they died and moved on. I could do that… but in my heart I knew I couldn't. I still had a chance for happiness and I wasn't going to stand for someone who didn't love me.

"Hey Duo, I was just getting ready to call you. Are you home already?"

I gulped, "Yeah… I'm home." My voice sounded thick in my throat and I was having a hard time breathing.

Heero was immediately on alert. "Duo? Is everything okay?"

It was now or never. "I got a visit from someone who said that they knew you. They had some interesting information."

"Oh?" Heero asked sounding both curious and cautious. That couldn't be a good sign.

"They gave me this recording that took place after your big trip to see me the first time." He didn't say anything for a while and I felt my heart plummet.

"What was on the tape?" He asked darkly.

I tried to stop my hand from shaking. Oh God, this couldn't be real. "You and another man speaking about me."

"Duo…" Heero started and I knew what was coming. He was going to try to convince me it wasn't him. But I know his voice and I heard what he said. Suddenly all my fear about calling and confronting him vanished and was left with rage.

"So, I'm a commodity then? Something to be thrown away?" I growled. "I can't believe I trusted you."

Heero's voice rose over mine, "Duo, listen to me. That may be me on the tape but I don't believe that any more. Why else would I want to move to Wyoming with you?"

"I don't know Heero, maybe it's all a lie maybe you're telling the truth but I don't care! I can't trust you after hearing what I just did! I am not going to be used by you or any of your 'high-class' cronies! My happiness is not a game."

"Duo! You're overreacting!" Heero yelled but I spat back,

"I'm overreacting? I just hear you say that you were going to use our marriage as a way to hurt some poor Relena person. It's not enough that you hurt me but you have to hurt someone else along the way?"

Heero sounded almost convincingly frantic. "Duo, please listen to me-"

"No! I know how good you are at getting people to see things your way, to make the business deal profitable to you. I will not be used like all those poor other lackeys. Don't waste your money on coming back here, you're not going to be seeing me and if you do just remember I have some very close friends in the police department." Then I hung up, just like that. Then I threw my poor, unsuspecting phone across the couch.

My heart was racing 5,000 mph in my chest and instead of taking the time to crawl out of my throat it was just going to take the easy way out and tear itself from my body. I knew my threat about the police was empty but I prided myself at how convincing it actually sounded. If Heero actually did come back I didn't know what I'd do. Probably sic Solo on him.

Solo came back into the room a few seconds later. "I have a chocolate cake started. I'm going to stay over here with you tonight so just give me a few moments to run home and get Lord and I'll be back, okay?"

I tried to protest, "Solo, really, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." But I knew it was futile by the set look in her eyes.

She moved forward to sit on the arm of the chair and wrap her arms around my shoulders. We sat in silence for a while before she kissed the top of my head and ruffled Shini's fur before getting up and heading to her car.

After she left I reached across the cusions, trying not to disturb Shini and grabbed my phone. I had five missed calls and three text messages. I didn't bother to listen to them and quickly set a text to Quatre telling him that if he needed me he could contact me on Solo's phone. As I sent off the text my phone buzzed in my hand and Heero's name appeared on the screen.

My resolve almost collapsed when I saw that but I held strong and ignored the call before quickly turning off my phone. I set it carefully on the coffee table and curled Shini into my arms to bury my face into her fur.

In my heart I knew I had probably overreacted but I had seen too many girls like me pass through the clinic, girls who had loved a man who wasn't in love with them. Brandy was the prime example of that.

Brandy had been promising as a tech at the clinic but she had grown up in a dysfunctional family with a father who drunk and hit her own mother. Because of growing up and seeing that sort of man every day she didn't think twice when she married Burt, the man who was possessive to the point of being horror movie worthy. He lied to her constantly and if she was even a minute late from the clinic he would hit her. The group at the clinic tried to get her to leave him and when she tried he took her by the arm and dragged her back to the trailer. She was in a cast for a very long time after that. I kept hoping that that would prompt her to leave… but instead she ended up having twin with him both of which I'm afraid to say, are going to end up like either her or him.

I would never suggest that Heero would hit me but I didn't want to be hurt by him because I loved him and he might only be using me. I just didn't want to be like those girls…

The sound of my home phone ringing broke me out of my slump and I jumped. When I glanced at the caller I.D. it was a number I didn't recognize and I knew it wasn't a client because the area code was wrong, so I didn't even bother to answer.

Solo came back less than ten minutes later with Lord in tow. "Guess who I found lurking in your driveway." She sang and I looked up to find Quatre and Trowa wandering through the door. Quatre had in one hand a large bottle of merlot and in the other, a very expensive looking box of chocolate. He made a B-line to me and a second later he had me in a massive bear hug which irritated Shini to no end because she gave a great protest and hopped off of my lap primly. Quatre just ignored her, "When I got your text I called Solo and she told me the whole story."

I tried to get him off of me but it seemed almost impossible so I just let him keep talking. "Did you even try to speak to him?"

"Sort of." I chuckled.

Solo came into the room, maneuvering around Trowa who had planted himself at the back of the couch behind my head. "We've got ten more minutes on the cake and Quatre, I don't think Duo even needs to talk this over with Heero."

"Why?" Quatre asked innocently, lifting his head to look at my sister questioningly.

She grabbed the digital voice recorder and held up, "Because of this." She nodded for him to follow her, which he obediently did. Trowa didn't though. He just silently touched the top of my head and moved around to sit on the arm of the chair.

"You don't want to listen?" I asked, trying to let my voice shake.

"You're a tough man Duo, if whatever was on that tape was enough to freak you out this much then I don't need to hear it to know it was bad." I always appreciated his gentle manner of speaking.

Slowly I took a breath and said, "He said he didn't love me but he was just keeping around to hurt the woman who he was going to marry but left at the altar just before he went to Vegas and met me." My voice dropped to a whisper. "What else could I expect from a guy who was drunk when he met me?"

"You weren't out of line. He could have just divorced you to make it easier on himself but instead he tried to woo you. That's not right." I cold hear a sharp edge to his voice and felt extremely appreciative.

A second later the phone rang again and I cringed, knowing already who was on the other line. Trowa watched me for a second before getting roughly to his feet and moving to the phone to yank the phone cord out of the back. That phone fell dead but the four others in the house kept ringing… but the lessened noise helped a little.

Quatre came storming back into the room looking livid. "Was that Heero?" He demanded and Trowa nodded slightly. Quat's chest seemed to puff a little and he stood a little taller. "C'mon, help me unhook the other ones." With another small nod Trowa followed Quatre out of the room.

Solo didn't say anything about Quatre and helped me to my feet. "Help me frost the cake and then we can uncork the merlot."

[XxX]

Around 10 that night Solo, Quatre, and I had almost emptied the bottle. Trowa had designated himself as the driver for Quat but he really didn't have much to worry about. Q knew how to hold his liquor pretty well.

We were in a very zen-like mood as we just talked but once a silence fell between us it gave me enough time to say what was on my mind. "I think I'm going to have to call Viki soon." Everyone stopped to look at me.

"You sure?" Quat asked quietly. "Isn't that a little bit of an overreaction?

"Of course it isn't!" Solo blustered. "I told Heero that if he did anything to hurt Duo that there were going to be consequences. He needs to learn his place. I think you should call her." Solo said, placing her hand on mine.

I glanced at her hand and finally sighed. "I just don't want to end up like Brandy or Jasmine or Nichole… I don't want to be unhappy or unsure about my relationship. I won't be dragged along."

Trowa spoke up finally, his voice decisive. "It's a good idea. You're strong enough to hold your own. Call Viki, I know she'd be more than willing to speak to you." I knew that Quatre was the only one a little worried about involving Viki but I wasn't going to be yanked around or hurt and that was final.

Around 11 the two left, Quatre finally had become a little tipsy and Trowa knew if given the chance he would drink even more. Solo took her usual bedroom and kissed me goodnight as she carefully stowed something in her jean's pocket. I knew it was my cellphone but I didn't mind. It was a nice gesture.

Lord and Shini followed my into my room and to the bathroom where I started my bath as hot as I could get it without burning myself. Once I'd filled it to the brim I stripped and threw my stuff into a pile that Shini quickly made into a nest and slid into the water. Lord took his place at the side of the tub, lying down with his big head on his paws.

I sat it the water, feeling like it was just too cold. I kept trying to add more and more water but I just couldn't get it right and as I sat the final time putting in hot water the liquor that had been clogging my mind cleared and I realized that I hadn't cried. Then I told myself that I didn't need to cry over Heero but it didn't work.

Tears started to spill down my eyes, burning my frozed cheeks and I curled my legs against my chest and buried my face in my arms. A cold nose pressed against my shoulder and when I looked over through my fogged vision Lord's face swam into view. I laughed and petted him and quickly went to drain the tub when I felt something big and furry slide against me and I realized that Lord was crawling in with me.

With a cry I tried to force him out but when a huge 190 lb dog decides he wants to sit in a tub with you there's no stopping him. Once he was fully in the tub I couldn't help but laugh. He may have been regal when dry but wet he just looked pathetic and I couldn't help but laugh. I threw my arms around his soggy neck and started laughing and crying into his fur and he just sat there and took it.

[XxX]

Needless to say in the morning Solo was extremely confused as to why her dog looked like he'd just gotten out of the river. I just laughed and told her she could clean him up at the clinic. She didn't need to know about Lord getting into the tub with me.

Solo thankfully didn't try to stop me when I went to work. Instead she encouraged it and followed me all the way to the clinic in her truck. Quatre hadn't been as happy to see me as I'd expected though. "What the hell are you doing here?" He squawked. "Go home! Cry, watch love story! I just moved around all your surgeries for today!"

I laughed, "Don't worry about the surgeries. I don't feel up to them today anyway. I just can't sit around."

Quatre looked close to getting up out of his chair to force me back to my car but Trowa stopped him with a touch and just smiled at me. No one really bothered me until Solo came into my office dripping wet. "You know, you're not supposed to take the bath with the dog."

"Oh shut up." She growled. "I don't know how he managed it but he didn't move a single bit and still I end up wetter that him!" She moaned and went off to find Quatre. I could tell when she had found him because a sharp, pathetic cry came from the front desk as Solo hugged him with all her might.

That little reprieve helped a bit before I finally settled down to business. I didn't give myself time to think as I grabbed my work phone, since Solo still had my cell, and dialed the very familiar number. "Hello, can you put me in touch with Judge Schofield? Thankyou." I only had to wait a few moment until Viki came onto the phone.

"Hey Viki, it's Duo…. What? Oh, thanks. How's your mom doing?…. Well, I'm praying for her. Listen, I was wondering what I needed to do about getting a divorce."

* * *

The play has finished and that's why I actually had the time to get this to you. No more excuses.

I am dedicating this chapter to the memory of my two Great Pyrenees dogs, Nala and Shasta. I'd had Nala since I was four and she died a little while ago at the age of 12 and her sister who I hadn't had as long died just a little bit ago at the age of 12 too, though she only lasted about five months more that Nala has. Lord reminds me so much of those two that I am not ashamed to say that I cried when I wrote that scene between Duo and Lord. My two girls were wonderful to hug when I was feeling sad and I wouldn't have put it past Nala to climb in the tub with me if I'd let her.

By the way, some people said they wanted to see the relationship between Heero and Duo grow and I feel terrible about that. I should have tried better at that part but I just felt like I was dragging the whole ordeal out. Maybe someday I might rewrite this but next I'm going to do the background for Trowa and Quatre.

Now I'm off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of oz. Well, actually I'm off to see _Wicked, _but it's close enough. Bye!!!


	14. Ring Ring

**Chapter 14  
****Ring Ring**

**Notes:** Holy Crap… I live…!

**Warnings: **Heero is _most likely_ very out of character in this character…

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Gundam Boys or the song. I own everything else though.

[xXx]

I'm sure that almost everyone in the world has had those dreams where everything starts off okay and then goes to hell. That's what happened to me. I'd had a horribly boring day at work and spent most of it staring out the window at Central Park.

Wufei had bothered me only a few times during the day but otherwise everyone left me alone. When I got home I was looking forward to calling Duo, wanting to hear a friendly voice.

I'd only been in the house five minutes before the phone rang. When I checked the caller I.D. I was pleasantly surprised to see Duo's name.

I answered it, a smile on my lips. "Hey Duo, I was just getting ready to call you. Are you home already?"

His voice sounded odd when he replied. "Yeah… I'm home."

Immediately I started to worry, something about his voice seemed horribly off and I didn't like it. Quickly I took a seat on my "Duo? Is everything okay?"

He waited a moment before saying. "I got a visit from someone who said that they knew you. They had some interesting information."

"Oh?" I asked, trying to figure out who in the world knew me that might just be out in Wyoming _and _in Duo's neck of the woods.

"They gave me this recording that took place after your big trip to see me the first time." I couldn't bring myself to say anything. All words caught in my throat. I was so used to being able to find a way to defend myself and my position that not being able to come up with anything to defend myself with to Duo was almost frightening.

"What was on the tape?" I asked, finally able to find something to say.

You and another man speaking about me." I could almost hear him shaking.

"Duo…" I started. I needed to defend myself to him. He needed to understand what really happened. I was all set to tell him the truth… just in a nicer way that would be able to pacify him.

"So, I'm a commodity then? Something to be thrown away?" He growled in my ear and my voice stuck in my throat once more "I can't believe I trusted you."

I needed to defend myself! I raised my voice, knowing that was probably the only way I'd get him to shut up long enough to hear me out, "Duo, listen to me. That may be me on the tape but I don't believe that any more. Why else would I want to move to Wyoming with you?"

"I don't know Heero, maybe it's all a lie maybe you're telling the truth but I don't care! I can't trust you after hearing what I just did! I am not going to be used by you or any of your 'high-class' cronies! My happiness is not a game."

"Duo! You're overreacting!" I yelled almost desperately. I hated the feeling of desperation, but I was so afraid I was getting close to losing him.

Suddenly Duo hissed at me spitefully. "I'm overreacting? I just heard you say that you were going to use our marriage as a way to hurt some poor Relena person. It's not enough that you hurt me but you have to hurt someone else along the way?"

I could finally hear the pure desperation in my voice. "Duo, please listen to me-"

"No! I know how good you are at getting people to see things your way, to make the business deal profitable to you. I will not be used like all those poor other lackeys. Don't waste your money on coming back here, you're not going to be seeing me and if you do just remember I have some very close friends in the police department."

What? What!

This wasn't happening, this wasn't right. This wasn't a part of the plan. Duo wasn't supposed to find out! Damn it!!

I stared at the phone, what the hell was going through Duo's mind? How could he hang up on me like that? I hit his speed dial and listened to the music he'd set for his ring tone.

"**On this coldest of January nights, we drive out past the runway and watch the planes go flying by. The runway lights are the deepest blue like the colors of your eyes, so close them tight and kiss me one last time…"**

"Hey you've reached Duo's cell phone! I've been unavoidably detained by the world, but I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. Leave a message at the beep!"Beep

"Duo please, you've got to let me explain. This is all a misunderstanding. What I said was inexcusable but please, just let me explain."

I hung up and waited three minutes… then three minutes more. When my phone didn't ring I tried once more. The music played and then _"Hey, you've reached Duo-_" I hung up before I could listen to the cheery greeting again.

I texted him next, begging him to listen to me, then called again, then texted once more. Finally I tried to call again and instead of hearing his song it went straight to voice mail. "Damn it!" I cursed loudly.

I went to my house phone, knowing he had my cell phone number memorized, and called his house. No one answered and I didn't get an answering machine. I tried three more times but finally got a busy signal.

I'd run out of options. He wasn't going to listen to me. I stared at my phone in my hand. What the hell? He thought he was a commodity? Sure, I was guilty of thinking that at first… but then I realized this man was a living person, more than a commodity.

How the hell could he think that I didn't love him if I was willing to move out there with him? I was willing to give up everything and go and live in the middle of nowhere for him. Damn it Duo. But how did he find out? How in the world could he have heard my conversation with Wufei? That was a private conversation in my own office, how the Hell did he find that out?

I stared at my phone for a while longer before I decided I needed to do something. I couldn't just sit there. I needed to figure out where my plan went wrong and remedy the situation. I rushed out of my suite and pressed the elevator button to the garage repeatedly, thinking that if I kept pushing and pushing I'd get the machine to move faster. After what seemed like an eternity later the doors opened at the basement floor and I shot out like a rocket, running to my car and yanking open the door.

Seconds later I was out on the busy New York streets and swearing my way through the traffic. I did like New York at some times but other times I could have shot every other driver in the city. This night in particular it seemed like every idiotic yahoo in the world had decided to go out driving. Finally the apartment complex that I was searching for appeared on my left. I placed my car in the hands of a young valet, a practice I normally didn't like to do, and pushed my way into the building. Angrily I rode the 37 floors to the top and rushed out the second the door opened, barreling into a young man by accident.

I barely took a second or two to apologize to him before hurrying to a door at the end and banging on it, "Hold on! I'm getting up, damn it!"

The second Wufei opened the door I pushed my way in and grabbed him by the collar, forcing him up against the wall. "What did you do?" I demanded.

Wufei struggled against me. "What are you talking about?"

"What did you do to Duo? He knows about what our original plan was. How did he find out?" I growled, shoving him once more.

Wufei pushed my shoulders and caused me to stumble backwards. "Calm down Heero, you're overreacting."

"No! He's the one who's overreacting, damn it!" I yelled. "He won't answer any of my phone calls or anything. Damn it! How did he find out?" I demanded.

Wufei took a cautionary step away from me, a wary look in his eyes. "I don't know Heero."

"He said that he heard me talking to another man. We were the only ones in that office, how did he find out?"

Wufei stared at me cautiously. "You were getting in too deep and loosing yourself in him. I needed to make sure that you were brought back to reality. This boy was going to disappear sooner or later, I was just speeding up the process. I couldn't let you give up everything you've worked for. But do you see? Do you see how quickly he threw you away?"

Before I knew it my fist was up in the air and I was charging at him. A second later I'd made contact with him and he was flying back toward the couch. He landed with a dull thud on the floor and stared up at me, cupping the offended cheek. I stood over him, oddly composed. "You don't understand because you've never actually had anyone actually care whether you existed or not. I had that, but thanks to you that very well may be in jeopardy."

I turned to leave but Wufei stopped me, "Think on it Heero. You're acting like an idiot for a fling. Think about it." I didn't think about it, instead I left.

Wufei didn't have the balls to face me the next day. Instead he sent his vapid little secretary to speak to me for him. I went home early that night and stared at my phone for a long time before leaning forward and yanking the phone out of its cradle. During work that day I'd looked up a specific number and decided it was time to call, I couldn't wait any longer.

After the third ring a sweet voice answered, "Hello?"

"Solo. It's Heero. Don't! Think about hanging up." I said quickly.

There was silence on the other end until, "What the Hell do you want?" Her voice was no longer sweet and kind. Instead she'd taken on a biting, poisonous tone.

"I need to speak to Duo." I said and heard Solo snort loudly.

"Like Hell you do. He doesn't want to speak to you and in truth I would rather not be myself." She bit out spitefully.

I floundered for words for a moment until, "What I said was the worst thing I could have possibly ever said… I need to explain to Duo that I didn't really mean it. I need to speak to him… explain myself." I begged.

Solo sighed, loosing her will. "Heero, can't you just put the stick down? The horse is already dead." I tried to speak out but Solo stopped me, "You may have felt a little flare of pity or whatever toward my brother but just let him go. He's hurt, more than you could ever imagine, you built him up into believing his fantasy life could come true and then in the matter of a few seconds it all crumbled around his ears. Duo's cried over you and now he's working and it'll all go back to the same as before. Why don't you do the same?"

"But Solo, I want to leave and I want to be with Duo." I argued, feeling emotions I hadn't felt in years. Desperation and anger and sadness. I really had planned to stay with Duo for as long as he would allow me… but I hadn't thought that our time together would be cut this short.

She was silent for a moment. "I don't know what to tell you. You blew this and I don't know what else to tell you. I'm not going to tell you anything more. Just leave it alone; just leave us alone. Don't bother calling the clinic to get a hold of Duo, Quatre hates you too."

I hung up a second later, not wanting to hear what else the woman had to say.

I'd just reached an all time low if even _Quatre_ hated me. I went back to my apartment a few minutes later, not bothering to tell anyone where I was going. My secretary seemed a little flustered at my early departure but I truly didn't care.

The apartment seemed too cold to me and I found I just couldn't sit still. I needed to get out… I needed to talk to Duo but I couldn't.

I left my apartment and let my feet take me away. I was mad. Duo was driving me mad. When the smallest problem arise that he couldn't fix he just had to run away, that was what he did and it drove me crazy. If only the idiot would listen to me!

My feet took me to Central Park. I hadn't been there in years and the last time it had been because I was struggling with a hard business deal. That time the cool, crisp air had helped me think but this time… it didn't feel right. My feet traveled the concrete path slowly as I glowered at the ground in front of me.

Almost out of habit my hand reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. A moment later I'd pressed the number 2 and waited. I only got two rings before it rolled over to Duo's voicemail. I hung up, to drained to leave a message.

See? This was the reason why I'd avoided relationships. They messed with your mind, your life, and especially your heart.

Relena had been relentless in her affections for me and I'd ignored them wholeheartedly because I knew her. She had to take over, and I knew that if I had given in she would have turned me into her pet. The man on her arm to escort her to all her parties and whatever else tickled her fancy.

I'd wanted to get rid of her and I found Duo. Then I lost him.

When I returned to the apartment an hour or so later there was a very angry call on my answering machine from my boss. He was angry about a few things but I truly didn't care. I didn't want to care. I wanted to resolve this mess.

The next day, to my disappointment, Relena tracked me down. She was dressed in her finest with her hair professionally styled and make up thoroughly plastered on her face. Make up was one of the many reasons I didn't like her. She wore far too much make up, so much it had bothered me to touch her face because I could either feel the powder or feel the grease and neither appealed to me. Solo never wore makeup except to church, she seemed more at home that way, and I liked that. Relena's make up reminded me of a mask that she was using to hide herself.

She barged into my office, grinning from ear to ear. "Hello Heero, darling." She sang, cheerfully.

"Relena, if you're not here on for business, then please, go away." I groaned.

Relena sauntered forward to lean her hip against the edge of my desk, "Everything okay in paradise?" She crooned, forcing me to rub my temples tiredly.

"Everything is fine. Please go." I grumbled and she sighed.

"I heard that your 'wife' left you." Her voice had suddenly lost that saccharine sweet tone. "I knew it wasn't going to last. _Those_ kinds of relationships never-"

"Relena!" My voice rose and in one swift motion I was up on my feet. "Get out and never speak to me about Duo again."

She stared at me for a moment before saying, "You deserve what you're getting Heero Yuy. What goes around comes around."

Her words took a moment to sink in. "You knew?" She only nodded, smirking at me in a perfectly, despicably, sweet way.

"Now," She moved forward to lean both hands against my desk, "I'm perfectly willing to look over your discrepancies. Earlier it may have seemed like I forced you into our relationship, which I may have done. But we both have learned and now since your… Duo… has bailed out-"

"Relena!" I shouted. "Get _out_!" She gave me a perfectly scathing look and huffed, tossing her hair and stalking out of the office. I stood, shaking and wishing I'd hit Wufei a little harder before slumping down in my chair.

For the next two weeks I tried to get a hold of Duo any way I could without calling the clinic because I knew I would have had to go through Quatre. Email was out of the question because Duo had once told me that he hadn't checked his email in almost a year. At one time I thought I got him but the call was immediately disconnected.

Finally the rest of my hope that Duo would allow me to at least save myself came crashing down around my ears along almost everything else. It was a late evening at the office and it was also the first time Wufei had fully stepped into my office. I was tempted to yell at him to get out of my office but stopped at the somber look on his face. He set a pile of papers on my desk and set his jaw, "The Quebec project fell through and they're not going to buy."

Not going to buy?

"What was their reason?" I demanded.

Wufei pointed to a paper on the top of the stack and almost immediately we fell into paperwork, trying to fix the damage had been done before it got out to the public in the morning.

Three hours later I felt like I'd been beaten over the head multiple times by .45. Barely any leeway had been made on the deal and Wufei and I knew it was hopeless to fix the problem before morning. There was a chance if we got in early enough that we'd be able to do something… but that was a very large if. We parted ways later, both of us tired worried about what would come the next day with the stocks and the publics' reactions.

I'd barely taken off my coat when someone knocked crisply on my apartment door. With an irritated groan I went back to my door and opened it to find a young man holding a medium sized box under one arm and a smaller package in the other hand. "Mr. Heero Yuy?" He asked and I nodded.

"I'm sorry to bother you so late but I need you to sign here to prove that you did get this." He went on and wordlessly I signed the sheet he handed me before actually looking at what I was signing. I was sure that I hadn't ordered anything lately so I didn't really have any idea what it could be.

The man smiled at me almost sympathetically and handed over the slimmer package, "I'm sorry." Then he hurried away, down the steps, clutching the papers against his chest.

When I slid the papers out of the packet I felt my heart plummet to the bottom of my stomach at what I read.

_Petition for Dissolution of Marriage._

* * *

Eeep! Please don't kill me! I had a really good reason for taking so long. Mainly because it's the Summer and I just spent the last three weeks in Rhode Island, tanning on the beach and being totally decadent.

I know this chapter was totally crappy but I needed to get it written. It was taking so long to actually get written and I was having so much trouble! I'm sorry that this is so short. I tried to make it a little longer, but I didn't have much that I really wanted to put into this chapter.

I know absolutely nothing about Divorce and serving papers except from what I know from TV, watching Serving Sarah (I think that's its title), and what I've gleaned from the internet. **If anything is off about that please tell me so I can fix it!!! Preferably by PMs'.**

Next. Since I don't have a beta or anyone to have read this over or anything else this chapter is extremely sketchy. If anyone is willing to give me a few pointers of what I could do to fix this chapter please, _please_ tell me!

The song title is from **Mika**. I love him and I think his music is definitely worth listening to!!

Oh yeah, by the way. The end is coming… fast!

**Remember to read and review!**


	15. We Are Golden

Chapter 15

We Are Golden

**Notes:** I am so sorry for the delay, with college applications, state drama, and life I haven't been able to write anything at all for a long time. This going to be the last chapter of the main story. I might do some side stories… at least I think there will be.

**Warnings:** There's not much. Some sappiness. Actually… there's a lot of sap.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Gundam Boys or the song. I own everything else though.

[xXx][xXx]

It was amazing how much I was still able to hurt. Solo would glare at me when she saw me wearing my wedding ring. My wedding ring… my wedding that I could hardly remember to my husband that I was now divorced from. At least… I should have been divorced from him.

He still hadn't signed the papers according to Vicki.

Solo and Quat both said that I needed to call him and force him to sign them. But that required talking to a man that I was determined not to talk to. It would only make me hurt more.

I didn't want to talk to Heero. I couldn't talk to him. So, Solo offered. But… I didn't want her talking to him either.

Whatever. I needed to get this over with. I needed to get on with my life, a life that would have been easier if he hadn't come along. If Heero hadn't crossed my path I would still be happily off in my own blissful world where I took care of animals and suffered through my friends' incessant needs to coerce me into finding someone.

Heero had tried a couple more times to contact me, but finally gave up after Quatre cussed him out. I was strange, not talking to him on the phone before I went to sleep at night. I'd taken to watching the news at nights now, but that only made me more depressed. I hadn't realized how many bad things were going on in the world today until I actually began paying attention.

One night, a couple weeks after I'd served Heero, I turned on the TV to find one of the worst shocks of my life.

It had been a long day, three euthanasia's, two of which I'd known very well. It had been horribly hectic since I'd had almost a client in each exam room at the same time for most of the day. When I'd gotten home I'd grabbed my dinner, a tin of chocolate frosting, and sat down on the couch with Shini curled peacefully in my lap.

The news had been boring for the first part, death, destruction, mayhem, the usual. I'd almost zoned out when the business reports came on and I heard a familiar name that sent an arrow through my heart.

"Heero Yuy, of Lowe International Technology announced today that the company is filing for bankruptcy in the coming week."

A clip of Heero came up on the screen and I gasped, not believing how haggard he was looking. His suit wasn't as impeccable as usual and his hair was messier now than it had ever been and there were large circles under his eyes. Before he began speaking he pushed his hair away from his eyes and I caught a glint of diamonds and realized he was still wearing his ring.

Beside him stood an equally haggard looking Asian man who I assumed was his partner, Wufei. Wufei looked pale and angry and very severe as he glared at the cameras over Heero's shoulder, as if daring the people around them to say anything.

"_I am here to announce that as of today Lowe International Technology will be filing for bankruptcy and will be letting many of its workers go. I am also here to announce that I will be resigning my position as Top Executive and that position will be going to my partner, Mr. Wufei Chang. Lowe International Technology has met many challenges these past few weeks after the agreement with Quebec didn't go through. The company will be taking a few steps back to reevaluate the problems with the company and will start working again, thank you."_

Heero stepped away from the podium and was ushered off by Wufei who looked very pained. The reporter went back to talking about something to do with the stocks, but I didn't care.

I couldn't believe that the Quebec project hadn't worked. Heero had been counting on that project! I knew I shouldn't have cared, but even in the short time we were together I had grown to love him. Yeah, I used the word love. You know, it's actually not that hard to say if you really try.

I immediately turned off the TV and pushed Shini off of me. Heero looked horrible and I hated it. But there was nothing I could do… and I knew my resolve wouldn't hold if I kept watching.

I couldn't have him in my life if he was going to play with me like he had. Then, maybe he deserved what he'd gotten!

No… I didn't really think that. I was just letting my anger get to me. No one deserved this. Not even Heero. It made me wonder what he was going to do now. He'd once told me that before me he'd thrown himself into his work. What was he going to do without his work… or me? I didn't know…

But throughout the whole night, even after all those thoughts, my eyes would stray to the phone and I would pray for it to ring and sometimes I even reached for the phone, but pulled my hand back.

In the morning I struggled through the day, wanting to break down and tell someone about Heero. It turned out that I didn't actually need to though. Quatre had watched the news that morning and had spread the words quickly. Solo said that didn't mean anything and he probably deserved what he got.

For the next three days I worked hard to not think about Heero and his predicament and had managed to push him to the back of my mind. I'd done a good job of it too.

It was a Friday and we were almost done closing. I was counting the cash and Quatre was tallying the checks. Then the door opened, bringing in a brisk wind. I didn't even bother looking up from the nickels I was counting. I hate counting nickels, I always loose my train of thought.

I heard Quatre though. He started with his usual greeting, "Hi, how can-" He stopped off and I paused, turning to look at him. "Heero." He breathed.

My head snapped around to find Heero standing at my counter. Intense blue eyes met mine and I immediately felt blood rush to my cheeks. I don't know if it was anger or embarrassment or what, but slowly I got to my feet, opening my mouth to say something.

"I refuse." He said, slapping the divorce papers on the counter.

"What?" I floundered.

"You are a damned idiot." He went on, not answering my question, and I felt my ire rise.

"Me? What about you?" I demanded, leaning forward.

Quatre stood next to me and stared Heero down but his gaze didn't waver from mine, "Heero, I think you need to leave."

"Shut up Quatre." Heero growled and I heard Quatre gasp,

"Don't you tell me to shut up-" He hissed but I stopped him.

"Quat, go home. I'll do the deposit and call you later." He tried to say something more but I cut him off with a swift look. Quat frowned at me but didn't say anything as he went to the back room. There was the sound of him clocking out then he whooshed past me with a brisk 'goodbye'.

We waited a moment until he was gone. I kept Heero's unwavering gaze for a moment longer before I couldn't stand it anymore and dropped it to the counter. "Why the hell are you here?"

Heero frowned at me, "That's a fine way to say hello."

I whirled to face him, "What do you want me to say, 'Welcome home Heero. Glad to have you back.'?"

"That would be preferable."

"Well, you're not getting that. Didn't those divorce papers tell you _anything_? I don't want you here."

Heero moved around the other side of the counter toward the opening to come into the reception area. I in turn moved to block him with one of the rolling chairs. "I don't care. I came here to talk to you and fix what's gone wrong." He hissed, taking a step forward.

I shook my head hard, my braid flipping like a whip. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say. I just want you to sign those divorce papers."

"No you don't."

"How do you know? You don't know anything-"

Heero grabbed my left hand with his own so that our matching rings caught the light. "I know you don't want me to go. You're still wearing our ring."

That shut me up. I sat down hard on the chair and glared up at him. "What do you want?"

"I want you to hear my story." Heero pleaded softly, not relinquishing his grasp on my hands.

I stared at his face carefully then frowned slightly, "You have seven minutes to explain yourself before I kick you out myself."

The relief on Heero's face was immense. He squeezed my hand and moved back a little, looking like he was getting ready to start a long story.

"Initially, when I found out I was married to you I wanted a divorce but Wufei decided that this would be a good idea to get Relena to leave me alone. She'd been stalking me for years and she knew if would be bad for her image if she was found out chasing a married man. So, I did. I used you in the beginning." He lifted sorrowful eyes to me when I made a noise. I shut up and motioned for him to go on.

"So I went through the motions that Wufei and I decided upon and I met you and got to know you and oddly enough I began to like it here. When I said I wanted to stay with you, I wasn't lying. I grew to love this life and you. I want to be here with you Duo."

I frowned at him, "Would you still be here if you hadn't lost your job at Lowe Tech?"

Heero sighed tiredly, "I offered to leave my job, long before I found out about the business failing. I could have stayed on to fix everything and secure myself a better position there once everything was fixed. Or I could have moved onto a better job. Instead I gave it all up to come here and be with you. Please Duo."

I stared at him, long and hard. I didn't want to give in too easily. I knew I should have been strong and said fat chance. But he did. He gave up everything to be here. Finally I stood and crossed my arms, turning away from him.

"Fine." I heard him stand up straighter. "But. There's a condition."

I glanced at him over my shoulder and he was staring at me intently. "You're on probation for 6-months. I want you to prove yourself to me. I want you to prove that you're willing to work to be with me. Okay?"

He smiled one of the sweetest smiles I'd ever seen on him. "Okay." I couldn't help but smile back. I had a feeling that this was going to work.

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"Don't you think we should call him in?" Quatre asked, standing in the window of the clinic and staring at the hill at the base of the parking lot. I was standing at his side, watching in amusement as large bushes of sagebrush and weeds would randomly be thrown up onto the ground above. "He's been at this since the morning."

I chuckled and wrapped my arm around his neck, "Just let him do his thing. Yesterday he told me he hated how they looked so just let him get rid of them himself."

Quatre continued to frown at the hillside. "Couldn't you at least do something?"

I sighed and went to the back, grabbing a cup and filling it with cold water. "Be right back." I told him and wandered past to the outside and to the ravine and plopped myself down on one of the decorative boulders. "Heero seriously, give it a break. I have something up here for you."

Heero's disheveled, dirt covered head popped up over the edge and he eyed me tiredly until his eyes fell on the drink and he scrambled up toward me. "You are an angel."

"Tell me that more often and you might get better jobs that working out in the blistering sun in July."

Heero fell on the ground and leaned against the shaded side of the boulder and leaned his head against my leg while he sipped the drink gratefully. That's right. It was July…, which meant that six months had passed.

"You know Heero. I was wondering if you'd like to have dinner with me tonight." I started off slowly, cautiously.

He turned his head to look up at me, watching carefully. "Sure. Where?"

"Our house?"

"Ours?" Heero asked, a glimmer of realization in his eyes.

I bit my lip and reached down to take his hand. "Your probation's over. I've missed you."

He smiled brightly at me, "I've missed you too." Heero reached up to grab the back of my neck and pull me down to kiss me thoroughly.

We broke apart when loud catcalls reached our ears and we looked to find Quatre and Trowa and even a reluctant Solo cheering us on. My sister tended to be the type of person to hold a grudge and she was still having trouble letting go of what he'd done. We separated slowly, but there was an unspoken agreement between us about our plans for the night, other than our dinner.

That night I lay in bed next to him, reveling in the familiarity of his body. He'd always been a heavy sleeper and didn't stir as I moved to turn under his arm and watch his sleeping face. It was amazing how much we'd been storing up in ourselves over those six months.

I'd been more than ready for him almost three months ago, but he'd been determined to prove himself to me and hadn't touched me with anything more than a hug during the sign of peace at church and maybe the occasional kiss on the cheek. He'd been amazingly good, but the waiting had been bothering him too. And he let me know it too.

Relena hadn't bothered us much. She'd tried to get a hold of him and finally he blew and told her that even if she wasn't happy he wouldn't let her get in the way of his. I'd been amazed at how much emotion was in his voice then and that moment had just about broken my resolve.

I rested my cheek against my fist and smiled down at my Heero, sleeping peacefully with his head turned toward me. I was happy, really happy. Slowly I leaned down to kiss him and grinned as I felt his lips quirk up into a smile and an arm wrap around my waist.

"Ready for round three?" He murmured and pulled me tightly against him. Dear God I'd missed him and I was even happier that he was here, holding me tight and loving me.

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I'm done! It's over! Yay! Thanks to everyone who stuck through with me to the end. Sorry this took forever. I'm really glad I'm done though. Now I can work on my next thing.

Don't know what that'll be, but it should be up sooner or later.

Thanks again and have a Merry Christmas!


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